Pakistan-controlled Kashmir: Residents ordered to stockpile food amid tensions
Pakistan-administered Kashmir yesterday called on residents near the de facto border with the Indian side of the region to stockpile food as tensions flare between the arch-rivals following a deadly attack last month.
India blames Pakistan for the attack by gunmen on civilians at the tourist site of Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir on April 22 that killed 26 men. Islamabad has rejected the charge.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. The two nuclear-armed countries have exchanged gunfire for eight consecutive nights along the militarised Line of Control (LoC), the de facto border, according to the Indian army, and the uneasy neighbours have issued a raft of tit-for-tat punitive diplomatic measures, reports AFP.
"Instructions have been issued to stock food supplies for two months in the 13 constituencies along the Line of Control (LoC)," the prime minister of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, Chaudhry Anwar ul Haq, told the local assembly yesterday.
The regional government has also created an emergency fund of one billion rupees ($3.5 million) to ensure the supply of "food, medicines and all other basic necessities" to the 13 constituencies, he said.
Government and privately owned machinery was also being deployed to maintain roads in the areas along the LoC, he said.
Meanwhile, Pakistan also announced yesterday that it would continue to allow the use of the Wagah border crossing for its citizens stranded in India, following New Delhi's decision to revoke visas in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror incident.
As many as 70 Pakistani nationals were reportedly stranded at the border on Thursday, as the deadline for leaving India expired a day earlier, reports The Hindu online.
US Vice President JD Vance said on Thursday Washington hoped Pakistan would cooperate with India to hunt down Pakistan-based militants, and that India's response to the recent militant attack in India-administered Kashmir does not lead to a broader regional conflict.
"Our hope here is that India responds to this terrorist attack in a way that doesn't lead to a broader regional conflict," Vance said in an interview on Fox News' "Special Report with Bret Baier" show.
"And we hope, frankly, that Pakistan, to the extent that they're responsible, cooperates with India to make sure that the terrorists sometimes operating in their territory are hunted down and dealt with," Vance added.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday thanked China's envoy for endorsing his offer to conduct a neutral probe into the Pahalgam attack, reports Dawn online.
He also conveyed that India's "belligerent actions could distract Pakistan from its ongoing counterterrorism efforts" against the Islamic State Khorasan Province (IS-K), Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), who were "operating from inside Afghanistan".
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