DE News Desk :
For the third consecutive night, Indian and Pakistani forces have exchanged gunfire along the Line of Control (LoC), as tensions between the two neighbours continue to escalate in the aftermath of last week’s terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam.
According to the Indian Army, Pakistani troops initiated “unprovoked” small arms fire late on the night of April 26-27 in areas opposite the Tutmari Gali and Rampur sectors.
Indian forces responded “effectively” and appropriately, a defence spokesperson confirmed.
The repeated ceasefire violations come in the wake of the Pahalgam massacre, described as one of the deadliest terror incidents in Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.
Twenty-six civilians were brutally killed in the attack, which Indian security agencies have linked to the Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba.
While India maintains that evidence points clearly towards Pakistan’s involvement, Islamabad has denied any direct connection and called for what it termed a “neutral and credible” investigation.
However, Indian officials have pointed to the pattern of ceasefire breaches from areas known to host terrorist launchpads across the border.
The deteriorating security situation has been accompanied by a breakdown in diplomatic ties.
India has recalled its diplomats, suspended visa services for Pakistani nationals, and ordered the closure of the Wagah-Attari border — the primary land trade route between the two countries.
In a significant move, New Delhi also announced the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty, the historic 1960 agreement that governs water sharing between the two nations.
Pakistan reacted sharply, with Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari warning: “The Indus is ours and will remain ours — either our water will flow through it, or their blood.”
Responding dismissively, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri retorted, “Let him jump somewhere in water.”
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in his first remarks on the Pahalgam attack, accused India of a “perpetual blame game” and reiterated the call for an independent investigation.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, meanwhile, assured the nation of a strong and uncompromising response.
“The punishment for the perpetrators will be bigger than they can imagine,” he declared, vowing that Indian forces would bring both the attackers and their conspirators to justice.
The situation along the LoC remains tense, with heightened alertness across forward posts as India braces for any further provocations.