Indian drone strikes make Pakistani response 'increasingly certain': Khawaja Asif

In the wake of a series of drone incursions by India, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has warned that these strikes make a Pakistani response to India "increasingly certain." Speaking to Reuters, the minister highlighted the growing tensions between the two nations, while also noting that the United States is taking the lead in global efforts to de-escalate the situation.  His statement comes amid rising regional tensions as Pakistan downed at least 29 Israeli-made Harop drones launched by India. The remotely-piloted aircraft, which entered Pakistani airspace and were detected over multiple cities, were neutralised using a combination of electronic countermeasures (soft-kill) and conventional weapons (hard-kill), as confirmed by the military’s media wing, the ISPR. This escalation follows a tragic attack early Wednesday morning in which Indian forces launched missile strikes that martyred at least 31 civilians in Pakistan. Pakistan has condemned these attacks as “terrorism,” accusing India of violating the ceasefire agreement on the Line of Control (LoC) and exacerbating the already volatile situation.