New Delhi/Islamabad/Srinagar, May 1 (EFE).- Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar held separate telephone conversations with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio amid rising tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbors following an attack in Indian-controlled Kashmir.
In the conversation on Wednesday night, Sharif rejected any involvement by his country in the attack and denounced India’s “escalatory and provocative behavior as deeply disappointing and worrisome,” according to a readout of the call released by the Pakistani government Thursday.
Sharif also said it was “most regrettable that India had chosen to weaponize water, which was a lifeline for 240 million people of Pakistan, while also stressing that the Indus Waters Treaty had no provision for either side to unilaterally renege from its commitments.”
India announced the suspension of this agreement a week ago as a punitive measure against Islamabad, although the measure has not had any material consequences so far.
For his part, in a post on X, the Indian foreign minister said that “the perpetrators, backers, and planners” of the attack “must be brought to justice.”
In a statement, US Department of State spokesperson Tammy Bruce indicated that Rubio “urged Pakistani officials’ cooperation in investigating this unconscionable attack.”
The secretary of state “also encouraged Pakistan to work with India to de-escalate tensions, re-establish direct communications, and maintain peace and security in South Asia,” the spokesperson added.
The region has been experiencing high tensions since a massacre in Kashmir, which killed 25 Indians and one Nepalese, an attack that India blames on Pakistan while Islamabad rejects the accusations and calls for an independent investigation.
The dispute threatens to worsen the already fragile ties between the two neighboring nuclear powers.
In an unexpected move, Pakistan appointed spy chief Lt Gen Asim Malik as the new National Security Advisor, the first time in the country’s history that the head of the intelligence agency has taken on the NSA role.
“DG ISI Asim Malik has been assigned an additional role of NSA with immediate effect,” a government official told EFE on Thursday on condition of anonymity.
Malik, a serving military general with no prior experience of serving a civilian position, will also retain his position as Director General of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), a position he has held since September 2024.
This dual responsibility places him at the center of Pakistan’s national security policy at a time of heightened tensions with India and internal instability.
The NSA serves as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s principal advisor on national security, foreign policy, and strategic affairs, and also heads the National Security Division based at the Prime Minister’s Secretariat in Islamabad.
The role entails reporting to the National Security Council on critical issues and regularly advising the prime minister on internal and external threats to the country.
Meanwhile, day after senior military officers from India and Pakistan held rare talks via a hotline, border tensions flared once again in the disputed region of Kashmir, with both countries exchanging fire across multiple sectors of the volatile Line of Control (LoC) on Thursday night.
“Pakistani troops initiated “unprovoked” small arms fire across the Line of Control (LoC) in Kupwara, Uri, and Akhnoor in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The Indian Army, in turn, responded “swiftly and proportionately,” a defense spokesperson in Jammu said.
This marks the seventh consecutive night of cross-border skirmishes since the devastating militant attack on Apr. 22 in Pahalgam, a popular tourist destination in southern Kashmir, leaving 26 civilians dead.
“The situation along the de-facto border has become increasingly volatile since the Pahalgam attack,” a defense official told EFE.
The renewed violence has cast a shadow over attempts at military-level dialogue.
On Tuesday, the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of both nations reportedly held a hotline conversation — a mechanism revived under a ceasefire agreement established in February 2021 — to express concern over recent escalations.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high-level Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) meeting, reportedly granting the armed forces full operational freedom to determine the “mode, targets, and timing” of any retaliatory measures against those responsible for the Pahalgam incident.
“The harshest punishment will be delivered not only to the militants but also to the masterminds of this carnage,” Modi said earlier this week.
India and Pakistan, both nuclear-armed nations, have fought three wars and engaged in numerous skirmishes over the Kashmir region since gaining independence in 1947. The LoC remains one of the most militarized borders in the world, with frequent flare-ups despite intermittent ceasefire agreements.
India shares a 3,323-kilometer-long border with Pakistan, which includes the International Border (IB), the Line of Control (LoC), and the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
As tensions escalate, the international community has once again urged restraint, fearing that continued hostilities could spiral into a broader conflict in one of the world’s most sensitive geopolitical flashpoints. EFE
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