Indian Prime Minister Modi vows to respond strongly to any future “terrorist attacks”
By Aishwarya Kumar and Sarah Benhaida in Rawalpindi, Pakistan
New Delhi (AFP) May 12, 2025
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday vowed to respond strongly to any future “terrorist attacks” and warned that New Delhi would not tolerate “nuclear blackmail” in the event of further conflict with Pakistan.
U.S. President Donald Trump said the weekend’s ceasefire took place on Monday for four days of intense jet, missile, drone and shell attacks, which were held on Monday, the worst violence between two nuclear-weapon neighbors since 1999.
Trump said on Monday that U.S. intervention has prevented a “nuclear war.”
“We stopped the nuclear conflict … millions of people could be killed. So I’m proud of it,” he told White House reporters.
Modi, in a televised speech to the country – his first since the hostilities began last Wednesday – said Pakistan chose to attack rather than help it fight “terrorism.”
“If another terrorist attack is carried out on India, there will be a strong response,” he said.
The conflict killed 26 civilians after the April 22 attack on tourists in Kashmir, which was managed in India.
India accused Pakistan of supporting the attack, but Islamabad denied participation.
– War Spiral –
A shocking spiral start to the full war was before dawn on Wednesday when India launched a missile strike that undermined what Pakistan called a “terror camp” in part of Kashmir.
Both sides then accused each other of launching fighter jets and drone strikes, as well as missile and shell bombings, killing at least 60 people.
“If Pakistan wants to survive, it will have to destroy its terror infrastructure,” Modi said on Monday.
“India will use nuclear extortion to cover the precise and decisive attacks of terrorist organizations.
“India’s position is very clear. Terror and negotiation cannot be integrated… Terror and trade cannot be integrated… Water and blood cannot flow together.”
After Indian troops reported “the first peaceful night of the last few days” on the controversial Kashmir and its western border with Pakistan.
The outbreak of violence has been the worst since the last open conflict between competitors in 1999 and has sparked a global trembling voice that could spin into a full-blown war.
Competitors also accused each other of violating the ceasefire hours after an unexpected announcement on social media on Saturday.
– Both parties claim success –
Top Indian and Pakistani military officials held briefings later on Sunday, each claiming to be the upper hand and warned that they were ready to respond if there were new attacks.
“We have made a commitment to the people,” said Lieutenant Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, a Pakistan military spokesman.
“We have taken great restrictions so far and our actions have been focused on, measuring and non-improving,” said Indian Lieutenant Rajiv Ghai.
Pakistan claims to have defeated five Indian fighters – New Delhi has not yet commented.
On Monday, people returned to the Indian-run border town of Poonch, one of the most severely affected areas.
But in the Pakistan-managed Kashmir region, thousands of schools remain closed as debris from strikes and fires cleared the area, said local official Naveed-ul-Hassan Bukhari.
Meanwhile, India reopened 32 airports on Monday due to the closure due to the conflict.
Since the Indian nationalist government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi revoked limited autonomy in the region in 2019, activists have stepped up their actions in Kashmir and directed them from New Delhi.
The two countries claimed that the split Muslim majority Kashmir claimed that they had fought several wars on the territory since independence from Britain in 1947.
Senior officials from Pakistan and India reportedly spoke on Monday to further secure the ceasefire.
Abdul Basit of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore said it was about the way of a ceasefire rather than a policy decision.
Basit told AFP that the goal is to “avoid any miscalculation, as the spark could quickly move towards a nuclear disaster now.”
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