Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar issued a warning late Tuesday (30 April) night, claiming his country had “credible intelligence” that suggested India was preparing for a military strike within the next 24 to 36 hours in response to the Pahalgam terror attack in Kashmir, which New Delhi has linked to Islamabad.
His statement came hours after India granted its military operational freedom to act, signalling the seriousness with which it views the attack that killed several civilians. Tarar accused India of manufacturing allegations and rejected what he called India’s “hubristic” regional behaviour, but his emphasis on an imminent strike indicates that Pakistan is taking the possibility of Indian retaliation seriously.
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif had earlier revealed that strategic decisions had already been made and forces reinforced in anticipation of an Indian move—comments he later tried to walk back. But taken together, the warnings suggest that Pakistan is bracing for a limited Indian military response, and is now attempting to shift blame while building a narrative of victimhood.
