Pakistan says intelligence suggests Indian military action likely soon

ISLAMABAD/SRINAGAR — Pakistan said on Wednesday it has “credible intelligence” that India intends to launch military action soon, as tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours escalate following a deadly attack on tourists in Indian Kashmir.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif urged the U.S. to press India to “dial down the rhetoric and act responsibly.”

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has asked both nations to “de-escalate tensions,” a State Department spokesperson said in a statement on Wednesday.

In the April 22 attack, the Islamist assailants segregated men, asked their names and targeted Hindus before shooting them at close range in the Pahalgam area, killing 26 people, officials and survivors said.

India has identified the three attackers, including two Pakistani nationals, as “terrorists” waging a violent revolt in Muslim-majority Kashmir. Islamabad has denied any role and called for a neutral investigation.

Hindu-majority India accuses Islamic Pakistan of funding and encouraging militancy in Kashmir, a Himalayan territory claimed by both nations but ruled in part by them. Islamabad says it only provides moral and diplomatic support to a Kashmiri demand for self-determination.

The old rivals, born out of the partition of British colonial India in 1947, have taken measures against each other since the attack, with India putting the critical Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance and Pakistan closing its airspace to Indian airlines.

Pakistan’s government said it had “credible intelligence” that India intends to carry out military action against it in the “next 24-36 hours on the pretext of baseless and concocted allegations of involvement in the Pahalgam incident.”

India’s foreign and defence ministries did not respond to requests for comment.

Sharif received a telephone call from Rubio on Wednesday, and the Pakistani prime minister asked Washington to urge India to “dial down the rhetoric and act responsibly,” a statement from Sharif’s office said.

Rubio pressed Pakistani officials to cooperate in investigating the attack, a U.S. State Department spokesperson said in a statement after the call.