Though India and Pakistan routinely shell each other across what is known as the Line of Control, this is the first time in years that either side has deployed warplanes to fly across it. Western security officials have raised questions about the existence of a large-scale training camp, saying that Pakistan no longer runs such camps and that militant groups are spread out in small groups around the country. Analysts and diplomats in New Delhi said the targets of the Indian airstrikes were unclear, as any terrorist groups operating along the border would have cleared out in recent days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India vowed retaliation over the Kashmir attack. Residents have also fled the area as hundreds of Kashmiris have been arrested and India has moved more troops into the region. The Indian attack is likely to draw a response from Pakistan, analysts say. “The Pakistanis are bound to react, conventionally and not through a proxy like a militant group,” said Rahul Bedi, an analyst at the London-based Jane’s Information Group, which tracks the defense industry. “Where they react and when is something that only Pakistanis know. This is a dangerous situation, as this brinkmanship can escalate quickly.” The American government has typically been a broker between India and Pakistan, conducting shuttle diplomacy in similarly heated situations. But President Trump has taken a hard line on Pakistan while drawing closer to India since coming to office in 2017. Observers fear the situation may escalate further in the absence of a third nation tamping down tensions. Early last year, Mr. Trump cut some $1.3 billion in military assistance to Pakistan because of the country’s support of terrorist groups. Pakistan’s military denies that it engages terrorist groups to achieve its defense and foreign policy objectives.<doc-sep>Early on Tuesday morning, 12 Indian Air Force Mirage-2000 jets crossed the Line of Control (LoC) and bombed terror camps of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) in Balakot. The air strike, which has been dubbed 'surgical strikes 2.0', follows two weeks after a terror attack on CRPF soldiers in Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir. As news of the attack trickled in early in the morning, both Indian and Pakistani media went into overdrive with varying news reports. Foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale confirmed the air strike and said a large number of JeM terrorists, trainers, and senior commanders were eliminated at the largest terror training camp in Balakot. The camp was led by Maulana Yusuf Azhar alias Ustad Ghauri, brother-in-law of JeM Chief Masood Azhar. The government said the camp was located on a hilltop, deep in a forest, and far away from any civilian presence. How Pak Media is Reporting the Attack While Indian media praised the precision and success of the attack, many media outlets in Pakistan confirmed the attack but said the Indian jets “fled” after Pakistani forces retaliated. A report in Pakistani daily Dawn ran the headline, "Indian aircraft violate LoC, scramble back after PAF's timely response: ISPR". The headline refers to a tweet by Director-General Inter-Services Public Relations Major-General Asif Ghafoor who posted pictures of an alleged payload from IAF jets, with the caption, "Payload of hastily escaping Indian aircraft fell in open." Pakistani media is treating the attack as an LoC violation and has accused India of warmongering. Yet another article in Dawn is currently running with the headline, "Pakistan will respond to Indian aggression at time, place of its choosing: NSC on LoC violation". The report is based on the statement by Pakistan's National Security Committee which met in a special meeting convened by PM Imran Khan in the wake of the attacks. (Screenshot of Dawn.com's home page display.) (Screenshot of Dawn.com's home page display) Similar articles appeared in other Pakistani news sites such as Geo TV, Dunya News and Samaa TV. Much of the reportage focused on dismissing the Indian strike as an unsuccessful with no casualties. One of the top reports in Samaa TV's website is headlined, "Pakistan Air Force foils attempted Indian attack after it breaches Line of Control". Other news articles appearing in news websites such as Dunya News derided the Indian Foreign Secretary Vijay Goyal for not being able to answer media queries regarding the strike during a press conference. (Screenshot of a report in Dunya News's website.) (Screenshot of Geo TV website's home page display.) Another point of consensus across media outlets in Pakistan was that the attack was a result of India's internal political agenda and called the IAF strike as an act of unwarranted aggression in order to win an election. Similar sentiments were shared by the ruling party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's Twitter handle. (screenshot of a report in Dunya News) Many reports also directly denied any attack or casualties whatsoever. One of the reports in Samaa TV is still running the headline, "National Security Commission rejects India’s ‘baseless and fictional’ claims on LoC violation", despite India's assertion that it hit a major terror training site in Balakot. Though unverified, several TV news channels are even mentioning a tentative number of casualties. International Media Response While Indian and Pakistani media outlets may be engaging in a tussle of their own after the attack, international media has largely remained neutral and wary of making assertive comments. Following the attack, a report appeared in New York Times with the headline, "Indian Jets Strike in Pakistan in Revenge for Kashmir Attack". (Screenshot of a report in CNN) Similar reports were run by Washington Post, ABC, CNN and Fox News. "India strikes inside Pakistan after deadly Kashmir attack", ABC's report said while CNN's reported, "India says it has launched air strikes across the disputed border with Pakistan". (Screenshot of report in ABC News) Most news agencies in the US also reported on China's response to the attacks. China, which had previously had a lukewarm response to India's accusations against Pakistan and JeM following the Pulwama attack, said that the fresh IAF attack would mark a new low in the ties between India and Pakistan. (Xinhua News Agency) As per reports in state news agency Xinhua, the Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi phone called his Chinese counterpart to discuss the fallout of the attack. the report was titled, "Chinese, Pakistan FMs hold phone conversation over Indian-controlled Kashmir attack". Note use of 'Indian Controlled Pakistan' as opposed to 'Pakistan Occupied Kashmir', the phrase that India officially uses to mark the conflicted border area. In the UK, quoting Indian authorities, Guardian wrote that the attack was an 'act of extreme valour'. The report was headlined, "India launches airstrikes on Pakistan across disputed Kashmir border". Some local news agencies such as Northwhich Guardian also reported on the inconsistencies between India's claim of achieving multiple terrorist casualties as opposed to Pakistan's official denial of any. (The Guardian, UK) Even as most international media outlets resisted from commenting on the issue yet, the event made it to the top news of most of the news agencies that were mentioned in this report.<doc-sep>
Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi NEW DELHI: A few hours after the air strike by the Indian Air Force on Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror camps in Balakot inside Pakistan, the neighbouring country’s media has quoted authorities and ministers to state that they are fully prepared to respond to the situation. Refuting India's statement that a large number of JeM terrorists were killed in the IAF operations early on Tuesday, the Dawn claimed that there were no damages or casualties in the attack. Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale said a large number of JeM terrorists were killed. The Dawn quoted Balakot police chief Saghir Hussain Shah as saying that he had sent teams to the site which was mostly a "deserted wooded area: and found "no casualties or damages on the ground because of the dropping of the bombs”. To Gokhale’s statement that the terror facility at Balakot was headed by Maulana Yousuf Azhar (alias Ustad Ghouri), the brother-in-law of JeM chief Masood Azhar, the newspaper said he did not provide any evidence. The Express Tribune extensively quoted Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s statement that IAF action was a “violation of the Line of Control (LoC)”. He said Pakistan reserved the right to respond to the IAF fighter jets’ air strike. “We have fought a successful war against terrorism… We are a peace-loving nation and are aware of the consequences of terrorism ,” the foreign minister further said. The Express Tribune said Qureshi lauded the armed forces for their prompt reply to “Indian aggression” and said that “the defenders of the nation are awake, and the nation has nothing to worry about”. The Daily Times focused on the meeting of Pakistani Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa and Chief of Air Staff Marshal Mujahid Anwar Khan. After the meeting, it said, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) released a statement that Pakistani armed forces were fully prepared to give a befitting response to any Indian “aggression or misadventure”. According to The Express Tribune, the two top military officers deliberated upon the operational environment in the region including “threat and response” in the meeting. The joint statement came a day after Bajwa and Khan had released separate but synonymous remarks about Pakistan’s complete preparedness against any aggression.