Tension mounts between India and Pakistan over air strikes

Muscat: Tension between India and Pakistan has mounted over alleged strikes by Indian Air Force jets across the Line of Control (LoC) in Pakistan yesterday.
Indian Armed Forces are monitoring the country’s security after the alleged bombing of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) hideouts.
Indian Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale announced at a press conference in New Delhi that, “JeMtraining camps have been active in Pakistan for a long time now. India struck the biggest JeMtraining camp in Balakote.
“The strikes specifically targeted the camp of JeM and made sure that there are no civilian casualties. Strikes happened only a short while ago, we are waiting for more details.”
He also said that the facility in Balakote was headed by Maulana Yusuf Azhar alias Ustad Ghauri, brother-in-law of JeM Chief Masood Azhar...The selection of the target was also conditioned by our desire to avoid civilian casualty. “It’s located in deep forest on a hilltop,” he said.
Just as news of the attacks hit the news, Pakistan’s Director General of Inter Services Public Relations claimed that Pakistan’s air force had successfully thwarted India’s invasion of its domestic airspace.
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that ‘better sense’ should prevail over India after he learnt of India’s attack. He also said that India should not incite Pakistan to retaliate. “We are more than capable of doing so,” he said in a statement cited in a state-run Pakistani radio.
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan convened an emergency meeting to discuss the situation on the LoC, state-owned Radio Pakistan has confirmed.
Pakistan has accused India of violating the LoC. The Indian government claims that air force jets carried out air strikes on militant camps across the LoC in an intelligence-led operation.
“India has conducted a violation of the Line of Control and Pakistan reserves the right to an appropriate response,” Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi stated said.
According to the Pakistani military, it ‘effectively responded to the violation’, contradicting India’s claims.
Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj convened an all-party meeting to discuss the situation at the border as it develops. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already apprised the President and the Vice-President of the developments, according to sources.