AFP :
Pakistan’s leader said on Saturday he was ready to defend the country after a deadly attack in Indian-run Kashmir that New Delhi blames on Islamabad, sending already fraught relations into a tailspin with soldiers exchanging gunfire across their contested frontier.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also called for a “neutral investigation,” with India accusing Pakistan of supporting “cross-border terrorism” after gunmen carried out the worst attack on civilians in Muslim-majority Kashmir for a quarter of a century.
Islamabad denies involvement in the April 22 attack targeting tourists in Pahalgam, where a gang of gunmen killed 26 men.
“Our valiant armed forces remain fully capable and prepared to defend the country’s sovereignty,” Sharif said at a military ceremony in Abbottabad.
Both sides have imposed a slew of diplomatic measures, while Indian and Pakistani troops exchanged gunfire overnight in Kashmir for a second day running, the Indian army said Saturday.
India’s army said “unprovoked” small arms firing was carried out by “multiple” Pakistan army posts overnight.
“Indian troops responded appropriately with small arms,” it said in a statement, adding that no casualties were reported.
There was no immediate confirmation from Pakistan, but the two sides had confirmed gunfire between their respective forces the previous night.
The United Nations has urged the neighbours, who have fought multiple wars in the past, to show “maximum restraint.”
US President Donald Trump has downplayed the tensions, saying that the dispute will get “figured out, one way or another.”
‘Track and punish’
Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence in 1947. Both claim the territory in full but govern separate portions of it.
Rebel groups have waged an insurgency in Indian-controlled Kashmir since 1989, demanding independence or a merger with Pakistan.
Indian security forces have launched a giant manhunt for those responsible for the attack in Pahalgam, with police naming two Pakistani nationals among the fugitives.
Indian police say three of the gunmen are members of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba group, a UN-designated terrorist organization, and issued a bounty for their arrest.
Indian troops blew up homes in Kashmir in their search and issued wanted posters with sketches of three men.
