India Pakistan News: India on Saturday decided that any future act of terror by Pakistan will be considered as an 'Act of War' against India, and "will be responded to accordingly". The decision came amid heightened tensions between the two nations after the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack by a Pakistan-based terror group and subsequent retaliatory action by India on May 7.
Following India's strikes on terror hideouts in Pakistan and PoK on Wednesday, Pakistan has resorted to missile and drone attacks on border Indian states including Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Jammu-Kashmir. However, these attacks were successfully thwarted by India's Air Defence Systems.
With this decision, the government seeks to draw red lines against terror incidents and make clear its intention to firmly respond to the perpetrators and conspirators. The decision also holds a warning for Pakistan against backing terror strikes in the country and reminds Islamabad of a possible hit-back on the scale of 'Operation Sindoor' in case of any misadventure in the future.
What Is An Act Of War?
Interestingly, even the Council of Europe's human rights manual treats Acts of War and terrorism on an equal scale. The COE's Manual for Human Rights Education with Young People states that both terrorism and acts of war involve extreme violence, and both are politically or ideologically motivated.
"In many ways, war and terrorism are very similar. Both involve acts of extreme violence, both are motivated by political, ideological or strategic ends, and both are inflicted by one group of individuals against another. The consequences of each are terrible for members of the population, whether intended or not," the COE Manual reads.
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high-level meeting on the prevailing tensions between the two nuclear-powered nations. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and chiefs of the Indian Armed Forces attended the meeting and apprised him about the evolving situation in border areas.
The meeting took place following India's strikes at four airbases in Pakistan in the early hours of Saturday in reply to Pakistan's attack on 26 Indian locations.