The latest confrontation between India and Pakistan involving tit-for-tat air raids has heightened tensions in South Asia. To begin with, the suicide attack on a paramilitary convoy in Kashmir by Islamist extremist group Jaish-e-Mohammad killed more than 40 troopers on February 14. Tensions peaked when Indian Air Force launched airstrike on Tuesday against terror camps in Pakistan in retaliation for the suicide attack. The situation worsened as Pakistan Air Force retaliated by shooting down an Indian fighter jet on Wednesday and arresting the pilot.
Increased crossfire has also been reported along the Line of Control (LOC) amid international calls to the nuclear-armed neighbors to rein in military action and sit across the negotiating table.
The conflagration has threatened internal security on both sides. The cost of military confrontation is too high for the vulnerable subcontinent going by the history of conflicts there. It would also do irreversible damage to regional political and economic order in the long run.
Read more at: http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1140533.shtml
Source: Global Times
Illustration: Liu Rui/GT
