India launched strikes against “terrorist infrastructure” in Pakistan early on Wednesday in retaliation for a massacre of Indian tourists in Kashmir on April 22. The operation, named “Operation Sindoor,” targeted nine Pakistani “terrorist” sites, including some allegedly connected to last month's attack. Pakistan said six locations were hit, including mosques, but denied any were militant camps. Pakistan also claimed to have shot down five jets and a drone. At least 19 were killed, according to government officials, including civilians.
The April “Pahalgam attack” killed 26 in Kashmir, most of whom were male Indian tourists. Kashmir is a disputed region that has been a point of contention between the Hindu-majority India and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan since India gained independence from Britain and partitioned with Pakistan in 1947.
American outlets on both the left and right are in agreement that further escalation between the two countries should be greatly avoided, yet opinions vary on whether or not the escalation is likely. Indian and Pakistani media, though, are divided on whether or not escalation is warranted.
A writer for Pakistani outlet Dawn (Not Rated) argued, “The spectacle of news and talk show anchors frothing at the mouth as they call for a war against Pakistan, following the Pahalgam terrorist attack, verges on psychosis. There appears to be no space for saner voices amid the beat of war drums. With the rise of media warriors, the basic tenets of objective journalism have long been lost. The campaign for the annihilation of another country and deliberate killing of an entire population is sickening.”
An article in Indian outlet NDTV (Not Rated) said, “Unmistakably, it is now India's hour of reckoning. Pakistan's self-destructive and evil policies toward its much larger neighbour, India, cannot be left unanswered. Pakistani terrorists, on the dictates of their Islamabad-based masters, will continue to needle India, try to create communal divide within the country, and indulge in acts of violence against the Indian people. Thus, whatever be the risks, India must, in a calibrated, well-thought-out strategy, strike Pakistan where it truly hurts them.”
The Guardian (Left bias) published an analysis reading, “Though flare-ups between the two south Asian powers are nothing new, India’s Operation Sindoor is already notably more aggressive than recent military actions launched by Delhi against its neighbour in 2016 and 2019, raising the stakes for Pakistan’s promised response to what it says was ‘an act of war’...Though nobody seriously expects all-out fighting, changes to the global context suggest that violence between the two nuclear powers could escalate.”
A writer for The National Desk (Right) wrote, “Tensions between India and Pakistan have been heightened since the attack on Indian tourists in Kashmir and are at their highest point since 2019… Despite high tensions and accusations flying from both sides, an all-out war between the two countries does not yet appear to be on the table.”
