India and Pakistan face off over Kashmir - latest news

Relations between India and Pakistan are at their lowest point in decades in the aftermath of both countries breaching the Line of Control in Kashmir. On Wednesday Pakistani jets bombed Indian military installations and shot down two Indian planes that crossed the Line of Control, capturing one pilot. As leaders from around the world warned against escalation, Pakistan said they did not want war, while India called the action unprovoked. Read more: Explained: Kashmir: A mountainous region plagued by a decades-old fault line | Analysis: Why India and Pakistan must step back from the brink _______________ The Indian Air Force on Thursday presented evidence of a Pakistani F-16 jet shot down on Wednesday. The air force displayed fragments of an Amraan air-to-air missile, which can only be loaded onto an F-16 aircraft, at a joint press briefing with the army and navy. India said they had downed one Pakistani jet on Wednesday, but little has been reported since. They also said there continue to be violations of the Line of Control, which they say is met with a proportional response. There was no damage caused to India's military installations by Pakistan's attack, the air force spokesperson said. The Indian Navy also said they are in a state of combat readiness. _______________ Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, spoke to the prime ministers of India and Pakistan to stress the "importance of dealing wisely with recent developments and giving priority to dialogue and communication," he said on Twitter. Sheikh Mohamed is currently in Singapore as part of his Asia tour. _______________ Airspace across Pakistan will remain closed until Friday afternoon, the Civil Aviation Authority announced. Pakistan's skies will reopen at 08:00 EST on March 1, which is 18:00 UTC+5. _______________ A meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security, which involves members of the Army, Navy and Air Force, as well as India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi began on Thursday afternoon. The meeting was expected to take place much earlier on Thursday, but it was delayed shortly after Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan announced he would free the captured Indian Air Force pilot. _______________ Mike Pompeo, the US Secretary of State, urged the leaders of India and Pakistan to avoid "any action that would escalate and greatly increase risk". Mr Pompeo also spoke with foreign ministers from India and Pakistan on Wednesday. _______________ Pakistani soldiers fired guns and mortar rounds at approximately two dozen Indian military posts on Thursday, an Indian spokesman told the Associated Press. Lt Col Devender Anand, an Indian army spokesman, says Pakistani troops attacked forward posts along the Line of Control calling it an "unprovoked" violation of the 2003 cease-fire accord. He said Indian soldiers were responding to the ongoing Pakistani multiple attacks along the highly militarized de-facto frontier. Mr Anand said shells were also landing in some civilian areas near the frontier. Police said at least two people, an off-duty soldier and a woman, were injured in the shelling. _______________ Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow would hold talks between India and Pakistan to find a solution to the conflict, the TASS news agency reported. "Certainly, if they wish this," Mr Lavrov said in answer to a question by the Russian news agency. _______________ The fallout from Wednesday's escalation has rippled across the Indian Ocean to the UAE, where close to four million people from both countries are watching on with increasing concern. Many are worried about family and friends back home and are frustrated at the closed airspace. But the story is also one of friendship, understanding and an appreciation for a troubled but shared history. “I feel tense and worried,” said Baljeet Singh, 39, whose mother and father live in Delhi. “If there is an emergency, it will be very hard to get home.” _______________ In a gesture of peace and goodwill India's captured pilot will be released by Pakistan on Friday, Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan says in Parliament. Indian officials claim they did not have to make a deal with Pakistan for the pilot's release. They sought and secured the pilot's unconditional release, an Indian government source told's Himendra Kumar for The National. _______________ Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Adel Al Jubeir will visit Pakistan on Thursday with a special message from the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said. It is not clear whether it is related to the ongoing crisis, but Prince Mohammed visited both India and Pakistan earlier this month. Mr Qureshi says he spoke to Mr Jubeir on the phone the previous night but did not give further details. The Saudi Foreign Minister will arrive in Islamabad on a private plane even though Pakistan temporarily closed its airspace to all civilian traffic amid tensions with India. Pakistan's airspace showed signs of opening up on Thursday. _______________ Pakistan's foreign ministry said it will hand over the captured Indian pilot if it will lead to a "de-escalation". "We are willing to return the captured Indian pilot if it leads to de-escalation," Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi was quoted as saying on Geo TV. Mr Qureshi also said Saudi Arabia's foreign minister was expected to visit Islamabad with a special message from Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, who visited both Pakistan and India earlier this month. In another sign of easing tensions, Pakistan's foreign ministry said India handed over its file on the deadly Kashmir bombing that sparked the current escalation in tensions. _______________ Airspace over Pakistan has reopened for some flights. FlightRadar24, a flight tracking tool, said some flights have taken off from airports in Pakistan. The first flight to take off was an Air Arabia flight to Ras Al Khaimah, it said. Pakistan International Airlines, the national airline of the country, said on its Twitter that some flights to the UAE and Saudi Arabia will depart on Thursday. _______________ The Indian pilot who was shot down over Pakistan has become the national hero in India and a key bargaining chip for Islamabad. Footage of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman has spread across social media in India and Pakistan. One video shows WCdr Varthaman being beaten by a mob near where he landed in Kashmir, while another shows the Indian air force pilot, bloody-faced, being bundled into a car by the Pakistan military. Another the captive speaking to the camera, face swolen and bruised, sipping tea explaining how well he has been treated by the Pakistani army. It is unclear if he was forced to speak. In Pakistan, soldiers were praised for saving Mr Varthaman from angry citizens, while in India #GivebackAbhinandan and #Abhinandanmyhero was quickly trending on Twitter where his stoicism elevated him to national hero status. On Wednesday, New Delhi objected to the "vulgar display of an injured personnel", saying his treatment is in breach of international law. While Islamabad said he "would be treated humanely in accordance with the Geneva Conventions." _______________ US President Donald Trump said the United States was trying to stop India and Pakistan from "going at it", at a press conference in Vietnam. Speaking after denuclearisation talks fell apart with the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un , Mr Trump said there has been "reasonably attractive news from Pakistan and India." "They’ve been going at it, and we’ve been involved in trying to have them stop," he said. _______________ Pakistan's commercial airspace remained closed for a second day, causing a funnel of air traffic over the Arabian Gulf. Etihad Airways cancelled a string of flights on Wednesday and Thursday, including both the outbound and return legs of flights from Abu Dhabi to Lahore, Islamabad and Karachi. Other UAE airlines followed suit. Abu Dhabi airport put out a statement on Twitter asking passengers to contact their airlines for more information. They said all flights to Pakistan from Abu Dhabi International Airport and Al Ain Airport are cancelled. Read more _______________ Schools across Pakistani-controlled Kashmir were closed on Thursday as tensions mounted on Thursdays. Train services linking the Pakistani city of Lahore with India has also been suspended until "the security situation improves, Pakistan's foreign ministry said. _______________ Leaders of countries from around the world urged restraint in the wake of escalating tensions in Kashmir . The United States, China, the United Kingdom and the European Union all called for calm. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he spoke separately with the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan and urged them to avoid "further military activity". In a video posted on Twitter, Britain's foreign secretary said neither side wants to see this escalate further and the situation will take a "really critical restraint in the coming days". _______________ Indian and Pakistani traded fire briefly along the contested border in Kashmir on Thursday, Reuters report. Poonch, a district in Indian-occupied Kashmir, the Indian army said. "The Indian army retaliated strongly and effectively," said Lieutenant Colonel Devender Anand, a defence ministry spokesman, claimimg the trade of fire was initiated by Pakistan and lasted for a little over an hour beginning at 0600 local time (04:30am UAE). Pakistan said the firing began overnight. "The firing continued in intervals throughout the night. It was moderate," said Shaukat Yusufzai, an administration official in the Pakistan-controlled part of Poonch. _______________ Thai Airways International said on Thursday it had cancelled more than a dozen flights to Europe after Pakistan closed its airspace amid rising tensions with India, with both claiming to have shot down the other's military jets. Thai flights to and from cities in Europe were cancelled because they had been scheduled to fly over Pakistani airspace on Thursday, Thai Airways said in a statement. The cities affected included London, Munich, Paris, Brussels, Milan, Vienna, Stockholm, Zurich, Copenhagen, Oslo, Frankfurt, and Rome. In addition, all flights to and from Pakistan were cancelled on Thursday, the airline said. _______________ The United States, Britain and France proposed on Wednesday that the United Nations Security Council blacklist the head of Pakistan-based militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad, which said it attacked an Indian paramilitary convoy in disputed Kashmir. However, the move is likely to be opposed by China, which previously prevented the Security Council's ISIS and Al Qaeda sanctions committee from sanctioning JeM leader Masood Azhar in 2016 and 2017.

India and Pakistan face off over Kashmir - latest news

In the wake of the downing of two Indian jets over Kashmir, the world warns against escalation