India and Pakistan troops exchanged fire in the Jammu and Kashmir region on Friday, according to officials in New Delhi, as relations between the nuclear-armed neighbours continue to plummet after a deadly attack on tourists this week.
Both sides used small arms in the gunfight, an Indian official told reporters, asking not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the situation. This is the first such exchange of fire since the pandemic, and breaks a 2021 pledge between the two nations to cease firing along the Line of Control that separates the Indian and Pakistani controlled areas of Kashmir. Pakistan’s military did not respond to a request for a comment.
The altercation comes the same week gunmen killed dozens of tourists in the restive Kashmir region, prompting vows of retaliation from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his top ministers. India’s government has labeled the attack, the worst against civilians in years, as an act of terrorism.
New Delhi has accused Pakistan of involvement, and on Wednesday announced punitive measures against its South Asian neighbor, including downgrading diplomatic ties and suspending a crucial water-sharing treaty.
On Thursday, police in Kashmir identified three suspects, two of them Pakistani nationals, of being involved in the attacks. All three were members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, the police said, a Pakistan-based militant group that India and the US have designated as a terrorist organization.
Pakistan has denied any links to Tuesday’s attacks and retaliated by expelling Indian diplomats from Islamabad, closing its airspace to Indian-owned and Indian-operated airlines, and suspending the limited trade between the nations.
Since 1947, the two nuclear-armed neighbors have fought major wars over Kashmir. The last time the two sides came close to an all-out war was in 2019, when a suicide bomber killed 40 members of India’s security forces. Jaish-e-Mohammed (Soldiers of Mohammed), a Pakistan-based jihadi group, claimed responsibility at the time, prompting India to respond with its first air strikes on Pakistani soil since 1971.
India’s Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi is on a two-day visit to the Kashmir region to review the situation, according to the New Delhi officials. Also on Friday, Indian soldiers engaged in a gun battle with militants in north Kashmir, the Indian Army said in a post on X, as security forces continue to hunt for perpetrators of this week’s attacks, and also look for other militants.
India and Pakistan are two of the world’s most acrimonious neighbors, and the long-running tensions between them center on the border region of Kashmir, an area in the Himalayas claimed in full — and ruled in part — by both. New Delhi, for decades, has been frustrated by what it sees as the Pakistan military’s support for terror groups that strike inside its territory.
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