Pakistan forces conduct drills, deploy Chinese howitzers along India border

Hindustan Times

01-05-2025

Pakistan is ramping up its military presence along the border with India as tensions escalate following the Pahalgam terror attack. The Pakistani armed forces have deployed a range of assets, including radars, air defence systems, and Chinese howitzers.
According to a report by news agency ANI, the Pakistani military has deployed radar systems and air defence weapon systems opposite the Longewala sector, Barner in Rajasthan.
Apart from the build-up along the borders, the Pakistan Air Force is also currently conducting three exercises simultaneously. These are named Fiza-e-Badr, Lalkar-e-Momin, and Zarb-e-Haidari, involving all major fighter aircraft fleets, including the F-16, J-10, and JF-17.
The Air Force exercises started on April 29 and are seeing participation of the Saab airborne early warning and control systems aircraft. Pakistan has also temporarily shut its airspace over Lahore and Karachi amid the tensions.
The sources quoted in the ANI report also said that the Pakistan Army Strike Corps elements are carrying out training in their areas of responsibility. The Pakistani military has also deployed the Airport Security Force for the protection of ground assets and the peripheral security of the air bases.
The SH-15 howitzers from China continue to be inducted into the Pakistan Army, and the units are getting deployed in forward locations.
According to another report by the Express Tribune, the country's army conducted full-scale military exercises on Thursday near the Line of Control (LoC) to show its combat readiness.
Tension escalated between India and Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22, in which 26 people were killed, including 25 Indians and a Nepali national.
The next day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), in which the group was briefed in detail on the terrorist attack in Pahalgam.
The CCS condemned the attack in the strongest terms and expressed its deepest condolences to the families of the victims and hoped for the early recovery of the injured.
In the briefing to the CCS, the cross-border linkages of the terrorist attack were brought out. It was noted that this attack came in the wake of the successful holding of elections in the Union Territory and its steady progress towards economic growth and development.
The government has said that the terrorists responsible for the attack and the conspirators behind it will face severe punishment.
The government has announced a series of measures, including putting the Indus Water Treaty in abeyance, shutting down the Attari check post, cancellation of visas to Pakistani nationals and cutting of staff in the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi. This was done to send a strong message to Pakistan for its support of cross-border terrorism.
Since then, Pakistan has been violating the ceasefire along the LoC and international border in Jammu and Kashmir, with Indian forces giving a befitting reply each time.