India may attack Pakistan between April 16 & 20: Pakistani Foreign Minister

[Itsback]

The Indian military may attack Pakistan sometime in less than two weeks, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi claimed citing “reliable intelligence.” The two nuclear powers had a major flare up of tensions in February. “We have reliable intelligence that India is planning a new attack on Pakistan. As per our information this could take place between April 16 and 20,” Qureshi announced.

India would not immediately respond to the allegations.Tensions between the nuclear-armed rival neighbors escalated this year after a suicide bombing attack killed dozens of Indian police troops in the disputed region of Kashmir in mid-February. Two weeks later, Indian warplanes conducted an air raid on Pakistani territory, targeting what India said was a training camp of the militant group which claimed credit for the attack. An outraged Pakistan retaliated on the following day with its own bombing raid in the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir, which escalated into a clash between two nations’ air forces. India lost one fighter jet and claims to have shot down one of Pakistan’s F-16 aircraft, which Islamabad denies.

https://www.rt.com/news

 

[Swordsmyth]

Authorities in India's portion of disputed Kashmir on Sunday began enforcing a ban on the movement of civilian vehicles on a key highway to keep it open exclusively for military and paramilitary convoys two days a week.Soldiers patrolled the highway and erected barricades by steel and razor wire at intersections with neighborhood roads. India's government issued the order this past week, reserving a 270-kilometer (170-mile) stretch of the highway for the movement of government forces vehicles on Sundays and Wednesdays until the end of May.
The order follows the Feb. 14 suicide bombing of a paramilitary convoy that killed 40 soldiers and brought archrivals India and Pakistan to the brink of war. Civilian traffic was already being disallowed along the highway during the movement of troops' convoys after the attack.
The order said the ban was called to prevent any attacks by anti-India rebels "keeping in view the large movement of security forces on the national highway" during India's multi-phase general election, which begins on Thursday.
The highway is the only one connecting the restive Kashmir Valley in the Himalayas to the Indian plains, and a large part of it passes through mountains and forests. The road is currently being widened into a four-lane highway and is prone to frequent closure during winters and bad weather.

Authorities said there would be exceptions to the order, and that people in need of medical attention, students and government employees, among others, would be allowed to travel on the highway after security verification.

More at: https://news.yahoo.com/india-bans-key-highway-kashmir-2-days-week-093932552.html

 

[Swordsmyth]

India's ruling party on Monday attempted to woo Hindu nationalists by unveiling a last-ditch manifesto pledge to end Kashmir's special autonomous status.
With his popularity falling to an all-time low after failing to deliver on previous economic pledges, Narendra Modi, the prime minister, is instead appealing to rising anti-Muslim and anti-Pakistan sentiment among India's electorate to secure his second term.
The world's biggest democracy heads to the polls on Thursday with Mr Modi expected to scrape a narrow victory when ballots are counted on May 23.


In front of a crowd at the the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) headquarters in New Delhi yesterday (MON), Mr Modi declared he would scrap the autonomous status Jammu and Kashmir has had since 1954.
BJP supporters have long petitioned for its removal arguing that it allows the state claimed by both India and Pakistan to resist central rule from New Delhi.
Mr Modi also controversially vowed to reverse a law forbidding anyone who is not a permanent resident of the state from owning property or obtaining a job there.
This move is seen as an attempt to dilute Kashmiri identity by encouraging Indians from elsewhere in the country to move to the region.
However, his pledge has sparked fears that it could lead to further unrest
"If this happens then not only Kashmir but the country and the region will burn," said Mehbooba Mufti, president of the Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party.
The leader of the National Conference Farooq Abdulla said if the articles were repealed it would lead to the state seceding from India.

More at: https://news.yahoo.com/narendra-modi-kashmir-election-pledge-192545387.html

 

[Swordsmyth]

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Sunday that India had called Pakistan's nuclear bluff in recent cross-border air strikes that almost triggered a new war between the nuclear-armed rivals.
Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have made national security the focus of their campaign for a national election now being held.
The prime minister told an election rally that an air strike inside Pakistan in February had shown that warnings hostilities could escalate into nuclear conflict were false.
"Pakistan has threatened us with nuclear, nuclear, nuclear," Modi told an election rally in Jammu and Kashmir near the border with Pakistan.
"Did we deflate their nuclear threat or not?" he asked the crowd that chanted "Modi, Modi, Modi" in response.


Military experts have long warned that a conventional armed conflict between the two countries could result in nuclear war and that this was holding them back from a serious showdown.
Pakistan has never made a public nuclear threat. But its Prime Minister Imran Khan did call on both sides to pull back from the brink in February because of the "weapons we have".
Modi renewed his warning to Pakistan that "his new India" is capable of "eliminating terrorists in their homes".

More at: https://news.yahoo.com/modi-says-india-undermined-pakistan-nuclear-threat-130145480.html