India-Pakistan tensions soar, drone strikes, war claims, diplomatic moves

Pakistan’s military reports downing 25 Indian drones overnight, including in major cities like Lahore and Karachi, claiming one civilian death and five injuries

ISLAMABAD/NEW DELHI (MNTV) —  India and Pakistan on Thursday accused each other of cross-border attacks, drone warfare, and targeting civilian and military sites.

Pakistan declared that its sovereignty has been violated and vowed to respond at a time and place of its choosing.

In a phone call with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the country’s territorial integrity had been breached and “will be defended at all costs.”

Rubio urged restraint and emphasized the need for both countries to step back from the brink.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir arrived in New Delhi for urgent talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar.

Their diplomatic visits underscore growing global alarm at the deteriorating situation.

Pakistan’s military reported it had downed 25 Indian drones overnight, including in major cities like Lahore and Karachi, claiming one civilian death and five injuries.

Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif warned that India’s drone attacks were making a Pakistani response “increasingly certain” and that there was “hardly any space left to de-escalate.”

India’s Defense Ministry admitted it had conducted strikes and damaged air defense systems in Lahore.

It claimed success in thwarting Pakistani drone and missile attacks on Indian-administered Kashmir and other military sites at 15 places.

Pakistan’s military spokesperson Lt. Gen. Ahmad Sharif Chaudhary dismissed Indian reports of strikes as “propaganda” and “concocted stories.”

He stated that Pakistan’s air defense systems were actively monitoring and neutralizing aerial threats.

“Your armed forces are fully alert,” he reassured the public.

India launched “Operation Sindoor” on Wednesday, striking targets across Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

Islamabad said these strikes killed at least 31 civilians, including inside mosques, calling it a blatant “act of war.”

India insists the targets were terrorist hideouts and has warned that any further Pakistani action will be treated as an “escalation.”

Artillery exchanges along LoC

Heavy artillery exchanges have continued along the Line of Control (LoC), displacing communities and killing at least 16 people on the Indian side, according to Indian officials.

Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar claimed that 40–50 Indian soldiers were killed in the recent skirmishes—an assertion India has not yet responded to.

The root of the escalation traces back to a deadly April 22 attack in India’s Pahalgam, which New Delhi blames on Pakistan.

Islamabad denies involvement and has accused India of staging a “false flag” operation to justify suspending the Indus Water Treaty (IWT)—a key agreement on water sharing.

Pakistan’s Minister for Climate Change Musadiq Malik alleged India is using the incident to push “legal changes” and abandon its treaty obligations. Indian officials countered that Pakistan was itself violating the treaty by obstructing dam projects.

Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri denied Pakistan’s claim that a dam was hit and rejected allegations that India attacked religious sites. He accused Pakistan of targeting a Sikh place of worship in Jammu and Kashmir instead.

The U.S. and other global actors are now actively mediating behind the scenes.

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar confirmed that national security advisers from both sides have established contact and that a military hotline remains operational—one of the few remaining guardrails against full-scale conflict.

However, Pakistan’s defense leadership insists that its response is being measured but inevitable.

“Our restraint so far should not be mistaken for weakness,” said Dar, adding that Islamabad reserves the right to retaliate at a “time, place, and manner of its choosing.”

India, meanwhile, has warned that it will hold Pakistan fully responsible for any further attacks on its soil or infrastructure.

Both sides have acknowledged the use of drones in the conflict.

Pakistan claims India fired Israeli-made Harop drones—lethal loitering munitions capable of precise strikes on high-value targets.

Pakistan says it successfully intercepted many of them, including during a barrage that extended into Thursday afternoon.

India has not commented on the specific use of Harop drones but confirmed operations involving unmanned systems in its military response to what it describes as cross-border terror threats.