Pakistan summons Indian envoy to protest strikes

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it summoned the Indian chargé d’affaires in Islamabad – the head of India’s diplomatic mission in the country – to formally protest India’s strikes in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir on Wednesday.

“It was conveyed that India’s blatant act of aggression constitutes a clear violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty. Such actions are in contravention of the UN Charter, international law, and established norms governing inter-state relations,” the ministry said.

“Pakistan firmly rejected India’s baseless justifications for its hostile conduct.”

It called the strikes “unprovoked,” saying they had killed several civilians including women and children, and warned that India’s military action posed a “serious threat” to peace in the region.

The leader of India’s diplomatic mission in Pakistan used to be the high commissioner – but clashes in 2019 between the two countries prompted them to downgrade diplomatic ties with each other and remove the high commissioner, leaving the chargé d’affaires in place instead..

Overnight shelling by the Pakistani military has killed at least eight people on the Indian side of the Line of Control in Kashmir, a senior Indian defense source told CNN.

India and Pakistan have had near daily exchanges of fire across the Line of Control since the April 22 tourist massacre that sent relations between the two sides plummeting.

Pakistan’s military has previously confirmed it shelled Indian positions in Indian-administered Kashmir overnight in response to India’s airstrikes on its territory. India accused the Pakistanis of unprovoked firing over the Line of Control, the de facto border that divides Kashmir.

This post has been updated with the latest on the shelling.

India said its military strikes on Pakistan targeted Lashkar-e-Tayyiba “terrorist infrastructure” sites after Pakistan failed to act against the groups based in its territory behind a massacre of tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir last month.

The operation – dubbed “Operation Sindoor” – lasted for 25 minutes from 1.05 a.m.-1.30 a.m. local time, Col. Sofiya Qureshi said in a press conference on Wednesday.

None of the three Indian officials who spoke at the briefing responded to a claim from Pakistan that it had shot down five Indian Air Force jets during India’s attack. CNN has been unable to verify the claim.

The briefing started with a video montage of the aftermath of attacks on India through the years that New Delhi has blamed on its neighbor Pakistan – and which Pakistan has long denied.

The officials also showed footage of what they said were strikes on the targets in Pakistan.

The officials showed a map marking locations of what they said were several Lashkar-e-Tayyiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed training camps in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and inside Pakistan’s Punjab province.

Indian foreign secretary Vikram Misri again blamed Pakistan for the April attack on civilians in Indian-administered Kashmir and accused Islamabad of supporting “terrorism” in the disputed region.

“Despite a fortnight having passed since the attacks, there has been no demonstrable step from Pakistan to take action against the terrorist infrastructure on its territory or on territory under its control.”

The targets were selected based on “intelligence,” Misri said.

Qureshi said no military installation was targeted in the operation and there had been no reports of civilian casualties in Pakistan. — CNN