India sends warships towards Pakistan after more clashes
India has sent warships equipped with supersonic cruise missiles towards Pakistan after days of cross-border clashes between the two nuclear-armed states.
New Delhi has moved its western fleet closer to the northern Arabian Sea, placing it within striking range of Karachi, Pakistan's largest port.
The strike group includes an aircraft carrier, destroyers, frigates and anti-submarine ships and is roughly 300-400 miles from the Pakistani coast.
Some of the vessels are carrying the partly Russian-developed BrahMos missile, which carries a 300kg warhead and is capable of travelling at speeds of up to Mach 3 to strike targets up to 500 miles away.
Analysts have warned that striking Karachi could have catastrophic consequences for Pakistan, as the port handles 60 per cent of the country's trade, as well as its naval headquarters.
The navy's deployment comes a day after India said it had intercepted a wave of Pakistani missile and drone attacks on 15 cities across its northern and western regions.
In response, New Delhi said it hit Pakistan's air defence systems in Lahore. Pakistan reported no damage, denied carrying out any attack on India and said it had intercepted 48 drones in the latest wave of attacks.
India's military struck multiple sites in Pakistan on May 7 in response to the April 22 terror attack, in which 26 people were killed after gunmen opened fire on a tourist site in Pahalgam in Indian-controlled Kashmir.
India claims that the strikes, carried out by around 80 jets, destroyed nine terrorist camps, but Pakistan said 31 civilians were killed and that mosques and a power plant were targeted.
Pakistan said it had shot down multiple Indian warplanes during the bombardment, including three French-built Rafale fighter jets.
At a Pakistani military briefing in the city of Rawalpindi, the army's spokesman suggested that aggressive retaliation was to come.
Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said Pakistan would respond to India at a 'time, method and place of our choosing'.
'They want to set a new norm,' he added. 'Will we allow this to happen?'
Holding up pictures of Pakistani children killed in the Indian strikes, Mr Chaudhry said: 'Remember these pictures when you ask us what Pakistan is going to do.'
Cross-border shelling since May 7 has killed nearly two dozen civilians near the Line of Control, the militarised boundary dividing Kashmir between India and Pakistan.
The Indian foreign secretary on Friday spoke to his Pakistani counterpart and offered condolences for the loss of civilian casualties, and urged both countries to de-escalate.
He later discussed 'countering terrorism' with the Indian foreign minister.
Pakistan's foreign ministry said on Friday that 'India's reckless conduct has brought the two nuclear-armed states closer to a major conflict'.
The Indian Premier League cricket series was suspended for one week on Friday due to the spiralling tensions.
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