Pakistan says it shot down Indian spy drone amid tensions after J&K attack

By Kamran Haider and Sudhi Ranjan Sen

Pakistan’s army said it shot down an Indian spy drone in the Kashmir region, as tensions rise over last week’s militant attacks that killed 26 people.

The unmanned drone breached the Line of Control in Kashmir, Pakistan’s state-run television channel said on Tuesday, citing unidentified security personnel.

Both sides have shot down small drones in the past as they are often used for surveillance around the border, but the report comes at a time when relations are deteriorating rapidly between the two sides.

Just hours earlier, a top Pakistan defence official warned of the possibility of war with India but said it can be averted. In comments to Pakistani media outlet Geo News, Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif described the next few days as crucial.

“If something has to happen, it will happen in two or three days,” Asif told the news channel. “There is an immediate threat.” China, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states are working to prevent conflict from breaking out, he added.

Indian Army didn’t offer any comments immediately.

Earlier today, India accused Pakistan of firing across the Line of Control for a fifth consecutive day, saying its forces responded in a “measured” but “effective” manner to what it described as “unprovoked small arms fire.”

The ceasefire agreement signed by the two nuclear-armed neighbours in 2003 had been frequently violated until 2021, when both nations renewed their commitment to uphold the truce. Cross-border firing had largely ceased over the past three years.

Rising tensions

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that India will punish those responsible for the killing dozens of tourists in Kashmir, which his government has called an act of terrorism. India has accused Pakistan of involvement and imposed punitive measures, including downgrading diplomatic ties and suspending a crucial water-sharing treaty.

Pakistan has denied any links to the attacks and retaliated by expelling Indian diplomats from Islamabad, closing its airspace to Indian-owned and Indian-operated airlines, and suspending the limited trade between the nations.

Since achieving independence from Britain in 1947, India and Pakistan have fought several major wars over the disputed Himalayan region. The most recent prolonged fighting occurred in 1999, when Pakistani troops infiltrated Kargil, in Kashmir. That lasted for several months until Pakistani forces withdrew from locations on the Line of Control, the de facto border.

The last time the two sides came close to an all-out war was in 2019, when a suicide bomber killed 40 members of India’s security forces. Jaish-e-Mohammed (Soldiers of Mohammed), a Pakistan-based jihadi group, claimed responsibility at the time, prompting India to respond about two weeks later with its first air strikes on Pakistani soil since 1971.

India said its fighter jets attacked an alleged militant training camp in northern Pakistan, with an official saying about 300 militants were killed. Pakistan denied any camp was hit and the next day downed an Indian fighter plane in a dogfight, the first between the two nations in almost 50 years.