How tension between nuclear powers India and Pakistan exploded

Kashmir, a region already marked by more than seven decades of tension, plunged back into conflict.

Kashmir crisis live: Pakistan PM authorises armed forces to undertake ‘corresponding action’ after India strikes kill 26

— The Guardian (@theguardian.com) 2025-05-07T10:51:34Z

In just two weeks, the deadly April 22 attack on a tourist bus in Pahalgam, a popular tourist resort in India’s Kashmir region, has rekindled historic tensions between India and Pakistan.

New Delhi’s reaction was swift: India launched the military operation “Sindoor”, targeting so-called “terrorist” sites in Pakistan and Islamabad-controlled Kashmir.

This series of strikes, described as “targeted and non-escalatory” by the Indian authorities, was perceived by Pakistan as outright aggression.

Since then, firefights, casualties and threatening rhetoric have intensified on both sides of the Line of Control. According to Islamabad, Pakistan deplores 26 dead and 46 wounded. India, for its part, claims that 15 civilians were killed and 43 wounded by Pakistani artillery fire.

While, according to The Guardian, Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh hailed the operation as “Victory to Mother India”, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif denounced the strikes as an “act of war”. Faced with this rise in tensions, the international community fears a rapid deterioration in the situation that could lead to a major crisis.

According to many observers, the fear of a major military confrontation between these two nuclear powers has never been greater.

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