Pakistan's information minister said early Wednesday that Islamabad had "credible intelligence" that India was planning an imminent military strike and he vowed a "decisive response", as worries of spiralling conflict grew over a deadly attack in Kashmir.
The statement by Attaullah Tarar โ issued shortly before 2:00 am local time (2100 GMT Tuesday) โ came after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a closed-door meeting the previous day with army and security chiefs, at which he gave the military "complete operational freedom" to respond to the attack, a senior government source told AFP.
"Pakistan has credible intelligence that India intends to launch a military strike within the next 24 to 36 hours using the Pahalgam incident as a false pretext," Tarar said on X.
Pahalgam is a tourist hub in Indian-administered Kashmir where 26 men were killed on April 22 in the deadliest attack on civilians in the contested region in years.