“Our response was targeted and measured. It [is] not our intention to escalate the situation,” Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said in a speech to his visiting Iranian counterpart.
“However, if there are military attacks on us, there should be no doubt that it will be met with a very, very firm response.”
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has vowed to retaliate after India launched deadly missile strikes on Wednesday morning, with days of gunfire along their border in Kashmir escalating into artillery shelling.
At least 45 deaths have been reported from both sides of the border following Wednesday’s violence, including children.
Pakistan’s army said on Thursday it had “so far shot down 25 Israeli-made Harop drones” across the country.
“Last night, India showed another act of aggression by sending drones to multiple locations,” Pakistan’s military spokesman Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said from the army’s headquarters in Rawalpindi, where a drone was downed.
“One managed to engage in a military target near Lahore,” he said, adding that four troops in the city were injured.
The Civil Aviation Authority said Karachi airport was closed until 6 pm, or 9 pm Hong Kong time, while Islamabad and Lahore were briefly shut “for operational reasons”. (AFP)
