Armed members of the Awami Action Committee, an alliance pushing economic and political reform, allegedly opened fire on a peace march in Muzaffarabad, killing at least one person and wounding more than two dozen amid protests over subsidized food, electricity, and services (AP)
India to Hold Largest-Ever Drone Exercise
India’s military will stage its biggest drone exercise in early October to strengthen air defenses after its recent conflict with Pakistan highlighted the large-scale use of unmanned aerial systems, which has in turn led to what analysts call a regional “drone arms race;” New Delhi is also developing the Sudarshan Chakra system, a domestic air defense shield likened to Israel’s Iron Dome (Reuters)
Nuclear-Armed Pakistan Signs Mutual Defense Pact With Saudi Arabia
The mutual defense pact treats an attack on one as an attack on both; the announcement comes in the wake of Israel’s attack in Qatar last week (AP)
The agreement commits Pakistan and Saudi Arabia to using “all defensive and military means deemed necessary depending on the specific threat,” an unnamed senior Saudi official told the Financial Times; it has been under development for “well over a year,” they added (FT)
Saudi Arabia has long cultivated a close defense relationship with Pakistan, which has an estimated 170 nuclear warheads as well as ballistic missiles with a range capable of hitting Israel, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SCMP)
India, which clashed militarily with Pakistan earlier this year, said it “will study the implications of this development” (Indian Express)
Indian Security Forces Kill Three People Involved in April Attack on Tourists
India’s Home Minister Amir Shah said the Pakistanis were killed in a gun battle and that forensic tests found their rifles were used in the Kashmir attack; Pakistan has denied claims by New Delhi that Islamabad was connected to the attacks (Reuters)
Pakistan, Turkey Discuss Increased Defense and Energy Cooperation
Turkey’s foreign and defense Ministers met with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and air force chief in Islamabad to discuss regional defense and security, including joint projects on aviation and drones, as well as oil and gas joint exploration; Turkey recently expressed solidarity with Pakistan in its military conflict with India (Reuters)
Pakistan Rejects India’s Claim of Chinese Involvement
Three days after India’s Lieutenant General Rahul Singh claimed that China actively helped Pakistan locate Indian sites during fighting between India and Pakistan in May, Pakistan’s Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir stated that India’s accusation was “irresponsible and factually incorrect” (Reuters)
India Says China Helped Pakistan During May Conflict
India’s Deputy Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General Rahul Singh said that China gave Pakistan “live inputs” of Indian positions during the conflict between India and Pakistan in May (Times of India). Singh also stated that India requires urgent upgrades to its air defense systems (Reuters)
Quad Group Condemns April Attack in Kashmir, Does Not Name Pakistan
In a joint statement by the foreign ministers of Australia, India, Japan, and the United States, the Quad group called for the perpetrators of the April 22 terrorist attack in India-administered Kashmir to be brought to justice; Pakistan was not directly named in the statement (Reuters)
India-Pakistan Water Treaty
New Delhi will “never” restore a water treaty with Pakistan that was suspended after the countries’ recent cross-border hostilities, India’s home minister Amit Shah told the Times of India; Shah said New Delhi would divert that water for internal use (Times of India)
The treaty allowed water from rivers originating in India to reach Pakistani farms; Pakistan has called the potential blockage of river water “an act of war” (Reuters)
Pakistan Hikes Defense Spending
The country’s government will increase military spending by around 17 percent in fiscal year 2026, officials announced; despite this boost, total defense spending will remain below the recent record set in fiscal year 2022, according to the country’s finance ministry (Nikkei)
Indian Foreign Minister Threatens “Retribution” If Pakistan Attacks
While visiting Brussels, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar claimed that Pakistan uses terrorism as an instrument of foreign policy, and if the country attacks India, Indian security forces are prepared to attack “deep into Pakistan” if necessary (Politico)
India-UK Security Cooperation
The two countries agreed to step up joint counterterrorism work, United Kingdom (UK) Foreign Minister David Lammy said after meeting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi; Lammy is the highest-ranking Western official to visit both India and Pakistan following April’s terrorist attack in India-administered Kashmir and India’s subsequent hostilities with Pakistan (Reuters)
China’s Satellite Support to Pakistan
China helped Pakistan organize its air defense systems and adjust satellite coverage over India during recent cross-border hostilities, the head of a research group under India’s defense ministry told Bloomberg; when asked about the report at a press briefing, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson did not comment directly (Bloomberg)
India’s Post-Attack Diplomacy
India’s foreign minister held a call with the acting foreign minister of Afghanistan, the first minister-level contact since the Taliban takeover in 2021; India thanked Afghanistan for its condemnation of the April 22 Kashmir attacks (The Hindu)
India Suggests IAEA Control Over Pakistan’s Nuclear Weapons
Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh stated that a “rogue nation” should not possess nuclear weapons without supervision, suggesting that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) should take oversight; Islamabad denounced the remarks from New Delhi (Reuters)
Separately, after Turkey issued a statement sympathetic to Pakistan, India revoked the security clearance of a Turkish logistics firm (Reuters)
The current truce between India and Pakistan will extend through Sunday, a top Pakistani official said (Bloomberg)
India, Pakistan Expel Diplomats
Pakistan declared an Indian diplomatic staffer persona non grata after India expelled a Pakistani diplomat earlier in the day (The Hindu)
India said the diplomat was engaged in “activities not in keeping with his official status,” and unnamed Indian foreign ministry officials quoted in the Indian Express said he was linked with recent arrests in India’s border region with Pakistan; Pakistan accused the Indian diplomat of espionage (Indian Express)
Additionally, Islamabad reaffirmed its commitment to Saturday’s truce while also promising a full-force response to any future aggression from India, after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed to attack Pakistan should another terrorist attack occur on Indian soil (Reuters)
India-Pakistan Truce
Top military officials from the countries met today after a truce announced on Saturday mostly held (BBC)
Both sides agreed to gradually reduce troop deployments from their border areas (Dawn)
Sources from India stated that the talks did not end the ongoing trade suspension and closure of borders by both states, though India reopened thirty-two of its airports that closed during the conflict (Reuters)
U.S. President Donald Trump said Washington helped mediate the talks that ended four days of fighting; Pakistan also cited support from China, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the United Kingdom (Economist;Bloomberg)
Separately, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the public and claimed that “Operation Sindoor” killed over one hundred “terrorists,” adding that India will respond with military action to any future terrorist attacks (DW)
India and Pakistan Accuse Each Other of New Military Attacks
Explosions were heard in Indian-administered Kashmir and Amritsar in neighboring Punjab state (Reuters)
Separately, an unnamed U.S. official told Reuters that there was high confidence that Pakistan had shot down at least two Indian fighter jets on Wednesday; Pakistan was reportedly using Chinese-made fighter jets, while at least one downed plane was French-made (Reuters)
Pakistan and India Trade Drone Attacks
Pakistan said it shot down twenty-five drones from India today, while India said it thwarted Pakistani drone and missile attacks (Reuters)
Officials from countries including the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Ireland worked to mediate (Reuters;BBC)
Pakistan’s foreign minister said that he welcomed U.S. efforts to de-escalate (NYT)
Pakistan Responds to Indian Military Strike
A French official confirmed that Pakistan shot down one of its Rafale fighter jets, which the Indian Air Force flies, while local sources in Kashmir identified debris from three downed fighter jets; Pakistan had claimed earlier that its forces shot down five Indian fighter jets, which New Delhi has not confirmed (CNN)
Pakistani forces also carried out shelling across the line that divides Kashmir (Economist)
India claimed that the death toll from retaliatory Pakistani strikes on Kashmir rose from nine to twelve, with nearly sixty injured (France24)
Flights were diverted or canceled over parts of the airspace of both countries, while India carried out air raid and evacuation drills in parts of the country (Indian Express)
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif claimed that India deliberately struck civilians in yesterday’s attack, which reportedly included several children among the reported dead; Pakistan said that the death toll rose from twenty-six to thirty-one (Guardian)
India Launches Missiles on Pakistan and Pakistan-Administered Kashmir
The Indian government announced it had launched “Operation Sindoor,” striking nine locations in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Jammu and Kashmir (Reuters)
Residents in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, reported hearing jets flying overhead and explosions that appeared to target a former site of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (NYT)
The strike was India’s largest air attack on Pakistan in more than fifty years; Pakistan said that it downed five Indian planes in response, although independent media were not immediately able to confirm that number (WaPo)
Pakistan said at least twenty people were killed (FT)
UN Secretary-General Calls for Restraint Ahead of Security Council Meeting
United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres emphasized that “a military solution is no solution” while again condemning the militant attack on civilians in Kashmir on April 22; the UN Security Council will convene later today to discuss India-Pakistan tensions (UN)
Meanwhile, Iran’s foreign minister urged both sides to exercise restraint during his one-day visit to Islamabad (Reuters)
India and Pakistan Impose Trade Bans
India’s foreign trade office announced on Saturday a ban on imports coming from or transiting through Pakistan as tensions continue to heat up following the killings of Hindu tourists in Kashmir last month (Reuters)
Pakistan followed suit by announcing bans on goods produced in India or goods bound for India from third countries; Pakistan’s ban would not affect goods that were already under contract (Dawn)
Pakistan Claims That Indian Strike Will Occur Within Thirty-Six Hours
Islamabad stated that it had “credible intelligence” that India’s military plans to attack Pakistan in the next twenty-four to thirty-six hours in retaliation for last week’s terrorist attack on Indian civilians in Kashmir (CBS)
Restrictions on Kashmir Tourism
India closed around half of the tourist sites in the portion of Kashmir it administers following militants’ killing of twenty-six tourists last week, saying that it is carrying out a security review in the area (Reuters)
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with his country’s security chiefs and told them they could decide how to respond to the attack (DW)
Additionally, Pakistan announced that it had constructed at least three different legal options to challenge the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty; both Pakistani and Indian officials acknowledged that India cannot immediately alter water flows since current hydropower plants do not possess high storage volumes under the agreement (Reuters)