India warns military attacks will be met with ‘very firm response'
India's foreign minister warned Thursday it would respond to any Pakistani military action, a day after launching missile strikes it said were in response to an attack it blames on Islamabad.
'Our response was targeted and measured. It's not our intention to escalate the situation,' Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said, in a speech to a visiting Iranian delegation.
'However, if there are military attacks on us, there should be no doubt that it will be met with a very, very firm response.'
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Arab News
an hour ago
- Arab News
Pakistan deports over 216,000 illegal migrants since April under ongoing repatriation drive
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has deported over 216,000 undocumented foreign nationals since April this year as part of a nationwide campaign targeting illegal migrants, mostly Afghan citizens, the country's interior ministry said on Tuesday. The repatriation drive, which began in November 2023, was launched in the wake of a spike in suicide bombings and militant activity that Pakistani officials linked to Afghan nationals, though no public evidence was provided to support the claim. 'Since April 1, 2025, a total of 216,103 illegal foreigners have been repatriated and the campaign is ongoing,' the ministry said in its statement. 'Since October 2023, a total of 1,102,441 illegal foreigners have been repatriated under the Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Program,' it added. Initially, authorities had said the crackdown would focus on those lacking any legal documentation. However, in early 2025, the government expanded the scope to Afghan Citizen Card (ACC) holders, ordering them to leave by March 31 or face deportation starting April 1. The interior ministry said food and health care arrangements had been made for those in the repatriation process, and that women, children and the elderly are being treated 'with dignity and respect.' It warned that anyone aiding undocumented foreigners with employment or accommodation would also face legal action. Pakistan has hosted more than 2.8 million Afghan refugees over the past four decades due to prolonged conflict in Afghanistan. The current deportation campaign has drawn criticism from human rights groups and the Afghan Taliban, who have accused Islamabad of harassment and called for the safe and dignified return of Afghan nationals. The Pakistani government has denied these allegations, maintaining the repatriation process is being carried out respectfully and in accordance with the law.


Al Arabiya
2 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
India intensifies expulsion of suspected foreigners to Bangladesh
India has started to push people it considers illegal immigrants into neighboring Bangladesh, but human rights activists say authorities are arbitrarily throwing people out of the country. Since May, the northeastern Indian state of Assam has 'pushed back' 303 people into Bangladesh out of 30,000 declared as foreigners by various tribunals over the years, a top official said this week. Such people in Assam are typically long-term residents with families and land in the state, which is home to tens of thousands of families tracing their roots to Muslim-majority Bangladesh. Activists say many of them and their families are often wrongly classified as foreigners in mainly Hindu India and are too poor to challenge tribunal judgements in higher courts. Some activists, who did not want to be named for fear of reprisal, said only Muslims had been targeted in the expulsion drive. An Assam government spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Assam, which has a 260 km (160 mile) border with Bangladesh, started sending back people last month who had been declared as foreigners by its Foreigners Tribunals. Such a move is politically popular in Assam, where Bengali language speakers with possible roots in Bangladesh compete for jobs and resources with local Assamese speakers. 'There is pressure from the Supreme Court to act on the expulsion of foreigners,' Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told the state assembly on Monday. 'We have pushed back 303 people. These pushbacks will be intensified. We have to be more active and proactive to save the state.' He was referring to the Supreme Court asking Assam in February why it had not moved on deporting declared foreigners. Bangladesh's foreign affairs adviser, Touhid Hossain, did not immediately reply to an email seeking comment. Last week, he told reporters that people were being sent to his country from India and that the government was in touch with New Delhi over it. Aman Wadud, an Assam-based lawyer who routinely fights citizenship cases and is now a member of the main opposition Congress party, said the government was 'arbitrarily throwing people out of the country.' 'There is a lot of panic on the ground - more than ever before,' he said. Some brought back Sarma said no genuine Indian citizens will be expelled. But he added that up to four of the people deported were brought back to India because appeals challenging their non-Indian status were being heard in court. One of them was Khairul Islam, a 51-year-old former government school teacher who was declared a foreigner by a tribunal in 2016. He spent two years in an Assam detention center and was released on bail in August 2020. He said police picked him up on May 23 from his home and took him to a detention center, from where he and 31 others were rounded up by Indian border guards and loaded into a van, blindfolded and hands tied. 'Then, 14 of us were put onto another truck. We were taken to a spot along the border and pushed into Bangladesh,' he said. 'It was terrifying. I've never experienced anything like it. It was late at night. There was a straight road, and we all started walking along it.' Islam said residents of a Bangladeshi village then called the Border Guard Bangladesh, who then pushed the group of 14 into the 'no man's land between the two countries.' 'All day we stood there in the open field under the harsh sun,' he said. Later, the group was taken to a Bangladesh guards camp while Islam's wife told police in Assam that as his case was still pending in court, he should be brought back. 'After a few days, I was suddenly handed back to Indian police,' he said. 'That's how I made my way back home. I have no idea what happened to the others who were with me, or where they are.' It is not only Assam that is acting against people deemed to be living illegally in the country. Police in the western city of Ahmedabad said they have identified more than 250 people 'confirmed to be Bangladeshi immigrants living illegally here.' 'The process to deport them is in progress,' said senior police officer Ajit Rajian.


Arab News
2 hours ago
- Arab News
Pakistan tells UK lawmakers it wants Indus Waters Treaty revived amid India tensions
ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani parliamentary delegation visiting key global capitals in the wake of last month's military standoff with India told British lawmakers Islamabad remains committed to ensuring the revival of the Indus Waters Treaty and promoting regional peace, according to an official statement issued on Wednesday. The outreach comes after India and Pakistan engaged in their most intense military exchange in years, sparking fears of a full-scale war under a nuclear overhang. Over four days in May, both sides exchanged missile strikes, launched drone attacks and engaged in air combat before a US-brokered ceasefire was announced by President Donald Trump on May 10. The crisis was triggered by a militant attack that killed 26 tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir. New Delhi blamed the assault on Pakistan-based elements, an allegation Islamabad denied, instead calling for an independent international probe. As tensions escalated, the global community moved swiftly to defuse the situation. Before launching its military strikes, India took several punitive measures against Pakistan, including suspending a decades-old, World Bank-backed water-sharing treaty between the two countries. 'The High-Level Parliamentary delegation from Pakistan, led by the Chairman of Pakistan People's Party and former Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, briefed the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Pakistan during a meeting hosted by APPG Chair Yasmin Qureshi MP at Westminster Palace, which was attended by cross-party British parliamentarians,' the statement said. 'The delegation underscored Pakistan's commitment to restraint, revival of the Indus Waters Treaty and initiation of a composite dialogue between the two countries on all outstanding issues, particularly the Jammu and Kashmir dispute.' According to the statement, Bhutto-Zardari briefed lawmakers on the consequences of what he described as India's unprovoked aggression, including violations of Pakistan's sovereignty in the aftermath of the attack in Indian-administered Kashmir. He rejected India's allegations against Pakistan as baseless, saying they lacked credible investigation or verifiable evidence. He further warned India's unilateral suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty violated international law and could have serious implications for regional and global peace. Pakistan's Minister for Climate Change and Environmental Coordination Musadik Malik also addressed the session, highlighting the environmental and food security risks of disrupting the treaty. He warned the suspension threatened the survival of Pakistan's 240 million people, most of whom rely on agriculture. The delegation also emphasized Pakistan's military response to the Indian actions was measured and consistent with international law, including the right to self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter.