Public sentiment on the escalating conflict between India and Pakistan in Kashmir reflects polarized and intense views. Many emphasize the difference between 'militants' and 'terrorists,' with a sentiment leaning towards labeling the actions as terrorism. Pride in India's military actions is evident, with support for defensive actions against perceived terrorist threats from Pakistan. However, there's also a strong call for peace, diplomatic resolutions, and hearing Kashmiri voices. Criticism of media bias and skepticism about political leadership are notable, along with a fear of the broader consequences of war. The discourse is marked by nationalism, urgency for peace, and concern over civilian safety.

India

Pakistan

Kashmir

Please use the India-Pakistan Megathread that is pinned. We started actioning accounts that make threads about this topic, but as you *literally* live where the fighting is happening, and are in danger (and because your post is politically unbiased and factual) we are not going to delete this post. We are going to lock this, however, because we cannot make exceptions for anyone, and people are going to point at this post and say we are playing favorites. 

*Please* keep yourself safe and I hope you and your loved ones are okay. Please share updates on the Megathread, as you can. ❤️

calmrain

I hope you and your loved ones are fine. This is scary, I truly hope all the people are fine in the affected areas

Thedoomedclub

Please leave Kashmir if you can for your safety. Truly saddening.

wrathofshego

Targeted tourists based on their religion.. tell the full story.. people were asked about their religion and killed for being hindu.. one muslim guy tried to stop them and was killed in the process

Capital_Ad_594

No-Atmosphere5756

It hasn't escalated to all out war yet, but I hope you're fine, bud.

ElezzarIII

hope you're okay and all of this stuff washes over, currently also scared since i live in faisalabad and it's not that far from the border

Public_Sympathy_45

[deleted]

[https://www.reddit.com/r/exmuslim/s/NP9WFKf5Kn](https://www.reddit.com/r/exmuslim/s/NP9WFKf5Kn)

This might get shut down as there’s a megathread created by the mods that might be worth posting in

Educational_Board888

I'd suggest you start searching asylum options now while leaving is still possible, you never know how this could escalate. 
stay safe

Iam_Mamoth

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AutoModerator

Man. I’ve been under rocket attack but like in war. Something about just chilling on your bike and watching the booms. Crazy. 

I hate this. 

Practical-Pickle-529

Probably a bit pedantic, but no one has declared war yet. So, at the minute it’s a squabble.

ImABrickwallAMA

No war has been declared. 

Tbh, if India and Pakistan actually declare war that's a conflict that I would have major concern about going nuclear.

Jordan_1424

JUST IN - Pakistan has "started the process of retaliation" against India's missile strikes — Samaa TV.

trippy_toads

Looks like things are getting too spicy for the pepper.

Jonas_Venture_Sr

Gosh darn that weak Biden leadership.

/s

RegattaJoe

From CNN;

“Our actions have been focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature. No Pakistani military facilities have been targeted. India has demonstrated considerable restraint in selection of targets and method of execution,” the statement added.

And

"Pakistan will respond to it at a time and place of its own choosing,” Pakistani military spokesperson Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry told Geo TV. “This heinous provocation will not go unanswered.”

CaptAwesome203

WOULD HAVE NEVER HAPPENED IF TRUMP WAS PRESI.....WAIT.....

yamers

Technical_Badger_430

Why tf are they fighting? I mean- they’ve always detested each other. But why tf now?

Emotional-Change-722

PrometheanSwing

[This kid is almost grown up now...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8HhZlu5DrU)

LBC1109

Is this the start to the US China Cold War?

slowlongdeath

toxiccortex

Trump:  This is Bidens fault. C h I n a   better not get involved or the US will raise tariffs 280%.

Beautiful-Salary-555

As a Pakistani it's always sad to see the strings both our militaries and politicians pull to make an intense feeling that war is just on the doorstep while sacrificing a couple hundred just to earn more war money.  
May these conflicts end and we both live in harmony.  
Nobody wants their houses to be bombarded like that in either of our countries.

Pillstyr

suchet_supremacy

It seems both countries' leaders have decided that a war is a good way to distract their people from their daily mismanagement and incompetence.

Jealous_Chance115

Do you know what the word 'official' means, dumbass?


There will be no war... unless Pakistan is really stupid and retaliates.

Anim8rFromOuterSpace

I'm guessing it'll be smaller conflicts.. not a full blown war.. unlike say.. Myanmar.

Dear_Natural6370

So a couple of missile strike makes a war but almost a million soldiers invading another country for years makes it a "special operation"? /S

evoc2911

FrozenBee44

Narwhal_IceCold

What are they striking if not military targets?

Edit: disregard, I misunderstood. They didn't attack Pakistani military but targeted terrorist infrastructure

SeraphiM0352

good god, that sent chills down my spine 😨

AnthonyGSXR

jjrocks2000

This would have never happened if Trump was President.

bennythegiraffe

They do this every 5 years. This is literally just a Tuesday.

ExpertCatJuggler

Border skirmishes or did someone come out and it ?

Stanf_63

This never would’ve happened if I were prez.

Turbulent-Champion89

Reasonable-Collar-69

YVR_Coyote

I don't think it's gonna escalate any further. What do you guys think?

JohnWick2808

On the bright side I guess we'll all have less calls from 'Microsoft' to fix the virus on our computer before we are arrested....

pte_omark

Content_Watch_2392

This wouldn't have happened if Joe Biden was President. #FDT

JustAnotherHooyah

HumbleSiPilot77

No it hasn’t. There was only several dozen dollars in damage dealt. Relax

Pip-Boy_72

BaloothaBear85

RootbeerninjaII

As far as I know this kind of skirmishes are a periodic issue in the Pakistan-Indo border. Sometimes are just light weapons firing, sometimes heavy rounds involved.

Altruistic_Fee661

Huh? This is a fairly regular occurrence. Your title is hyperbolic clickbait.

Luckygecko1

That’s an old video of a tanker blowing up

Express-Row-1504

Someone legit said

7-1-1 vs 9-1-1

💀💀💀💀😭😭😭😭💀💀💀

Deadshadow84

The one who's benefiting is China. They wanted instability in India and they are getting it. Bought Bangladesh and Pakistan and making them do their dirty work.

Practical-Ice-8597

DamnGoodFries

My parents are traveling to southern part of India. Do I need to be worried. Cochi to be more exact.

Human_Percentage_549

That’s what? About two billion people affected? 

The scale of the region is bonkers.

India had what,.. 900 million registered voters in their last election?! Can’t fathom.

woswoissdenniii

Shame 5hey couldn't wait until GTA 6 is released to go to war.

I don't know what to think. I don't trust they would stop to think of the world, we see the first full on nuclear war.

No_Restaurant566

when is Trump gonna blame Biden for this one?? where is he when the world needs him most?

picnik07

India has hit terrorist camps and bases in POK earlier too. There will be no escalation. 
MOD even live telecasted the reason and mapping of specific targets. A must watch for anyone interested.

The only thing new here is hitting terrorists bases deep inside Pakistani territory and the use of cruise missiles and drones.

doctor_anku

Is it safe for an Indian to travel to China between such tensions? My flight is tonight

overwhelmedgrl

They have been doing this for many years next week they’ll get revenge

Possible_Win_1463

Rob3D2018

No_Tangelo805

So I'm not seeing an actual declaration of war just obvious outrage at the terrorist attack, retaliation, and counter-retaliation.

Am I missing something?

Wenuven

kmm198700

Yes, at present, Kashmir is indeed a hotspot for retaliatory attacks. However, take such statements with a grain of salt. The recent terrorist attack in Pahalgam was likely aimed at destabilizing Kashmir’s growing tourism economy. I suspect those amplifying this narrative are unknowingly echoing propaganda designed to instill fear and paint Kashmir as unsafe.
Please, don’t fall for it.

Undead_Necromancer

I have never understood the Foreign Affair's Pakistani apologia. Not this article alone, but you can see the skew especially when it comes to India-Pakistan conflicts with minimal cases of balance or neutrality.

You can see glaring issues in this article itself:

1. "It is not yet clear which group was responsible for the April 22 attack"

[The Diplomat - A Primer on The Resistance Front, the Group Behind the Pahalgam Attack](https://thediplomat.com/2025/04/a-primer-on-the-resistance-front-the-group-behind-the-pahalgam-attack/)  
[Reuters - What is The Resistance Front, the militant group linked to Pahalgam attack?](https://www.reuters.com/world/india/kashmir-resistance-group-that-claimed-attack-tourists-indian-kashmir-2025-04-23/)  
[When tensions rose, they quickly backtracked, blaming a "cyberattack".](https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/as-pressure-mounts-trf-denies-involvement-in-pahalgam-attack/article69495143.ece) You have to be a special sort of naive person to believe that.

2. "India’s hard-line policies under Modi and the imposition of direct central rule on Kashmir have fueled deep alienation in the Muslim-majority region."

This, written in reference to a terror attack where Hindu tourists were killed by terrorists after confirming they were non-Muslim. It seems peculiar that this crucial and horrifying detail about the attack was omitted, but the the quoted line still deserved a mention.

[Islamist assailants attacked a meadow teeming with tourists in Kashmir's Pahalgam area last week, segregated men, asked their names and shot Hindus at close range, officials and survivors said.](https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-wants-kashmir-attackers-brought-justice-foreign-minister-tells-rubio-2025-05-01/)

3. "With Modi’s rhetoric leaving little room for compromise"  
This, as the Pakistani Defense Minister and other senior government officials (such as ambassadors) regularly gave alarming nuclear warnings in the days following the attack.

[Pakistan threatens nuclear response if India attacks or disrupts water flow](https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/national/pakistan-threatens-nuclear-response-if-india-attacks-or-disrupts-water-flow/article69540306.ece)

Not sure if incompentence or intentional.

Kitchen-Wafer3852

I don't see how this escalates.  India carefully targeted non-military sites and inflicted and approximately equal number of casualties on Pakistan.  Pakistan says they will retaliate "at a time of their own choosing" which signals that they're going to let this slide until the news cycle moves on.  India got their show of force, Pakistan saves face, neither party is interested in this going further.

The_Demolition_Man

In a perfectly logical world, India wouldn't bother retaliating and simply continue bolstering the Kashmiri economy and security apparatus which is already bringing peace to the region.

However, that would be unacceptable for the population and morale. India (and Pakistan) are doing what its people expect, and both countries would mostly let this fizzle out and claim symbolic victories.

If this were to happen, the real victory for India would be successfully setting a precedent of using the Indus water sharing treaty as political leverage. It would also clear internal political hurdles to bolster the country's security and surveillance apparatus.

For Pakistan, the real victory would be not plunging millions into poverty.

Empirical_Engine

Everything is always “seriously close”. Are we having WW or not? Stop the tease.

RedditHivemind95

\[SS from the April 29 essay by Sushant Singh, a Lecturer at Yale University and Consulting Editor for *The Caravan* magazine in India.\]

  
Kashmir is now once again one of the world’s riskiest flash points. It is not yet clear which group was responsible for the April 22 attack, which killed 26 tourists in Pahalgam, a scenic hill station in Kashmir, but the atrocity has brought India to a sadly familiar juncture. Previous episodes of terrorist violence in Kashmir have led India to strike its neighbor Pakistan, which Indian officials insist is the source of the militancy that still plagues the disputed territory. Modi’s rhetoric this month echoes the speeches he made in 2019 before Indian jets struck Pakistan after a suicide car bomb in Kashmir killed 40 Indian paramilitary soldiers. That year, Pakistan hit back, downing an Indian fighter jet and capturing its pilot, and the two nuclear-armed countries neared the precipice of a widening conflict...

Today, however, the conditions are not as conducive to de-escalation. The situation in Kashmir is more volatile than before. India’s hard-line policies under Modi and the imposition of direct central rule on Kashmir have fueled deep alienation in the Muslim-majority region. The recent massacre has reignited hostilities between India and Pakistan as Indian leaders and public figures call for revenge and Pakistani officials decry India’s policies in Kashmir.

ForeignAffairsMag

Here we go again - "tongue war",a desi specialty

slowwolfcat

How soon till small yield nukes are used?

Doctorstrange223

Responding in *Foreign Policy* to the current military clashes between nuclear powers India and Pakistan, Hoover Senior Fellow [Sumit Ganguly](https://www.hoover.org/profiles/sumit-ganguly) considers the risk of an “escalatory spiral” intensifying the conflict. Gauging the likely fallout of Indian strikes on alleged militant camps in Pakistan, Ganguly argues, “The Pakistani military, which has long dominated the country’s politics, cannot let an attack on its own territory from its principal adversary go unanswered.” At the same time, Ganguly sees reasons to be hopeful that escalation will not result in nuclear exchange. As he writes, “Neither India nor Pakistan wants to be labeled as the first violator of the post-Hiroshima nuclear taboo,” and nuclear war at any level would “lead to untold devastation in both countries.” Ganguly cautions that US attempts to mediate an end to the conflict could be hobbled by Washington’s currently divided focus across multiple other foreign and domestic policy issues. 

HooverInstitution

I think the current trajectory and official statements actually does support the idea that this could turn into an escalatory spiral. Indian statements appear to claim they are ready for deescalation but will also continue to retaliate to anything, they are currently beginning to project a lot of navy force, likely for the purposes of an addition deterrent. 

Pakistan has made it clear that they will respond, and haven’t done so yet. The Indian deterrent will not likely be very effective as Pakistan doesn’t appear to be overly concerned by it at this point, considering the artillery exchange continued on afterwards. There is still fighting going on in Kashmir right now.

My bet here is that Pakistan will respond with force somewhat soon, and India will reciprocate whatever scale attack that may be, as they have stated that they intend to do. In the short term they have both made statements indicating escalation will happen. 

I do not believe that nukes are on the table or ever will be, but I don’t think that they are much of a deterrent if neither side expects the other to use one. Most major powers are urging de-escalation right now and will hesitate to pick a side or get directly involved if conflict continues, but hypothetically: as soon as one side readies a nuke, the entire world will turn against them. That is as much of a deterrent as the nuke itself, and could enable continued escalation despite the nuclear deterrent.

Bigfatmauls

Pakistan’s economy is in the toilet and they’re already knocking the doors of the IMF to ask for more funding. Which suggests they wouldn’t be able to sustain a war for more than a few days at the most.

hinterstoisser

Hopefully very low. India and Pakistan have a tradition of "ceremonial warfare" and they have been very good of deescalating conflicts in the past. Neither have interest in any sort of total war but of course there are risks when bombs start flying and I'm sure there are people who wish they could bring Kashmir situation in some sort of permanent conclusion.

DodgyWiper

A big Pakistani strike on India, if it happens and if it is successful, would be that signal. Thereafter, it would be difficult to control an escalatory spiral.

greatbear8

Doesn't matter what the risk is.
The risk is real but Indians' risk appetite is pretty high by now to be honest.
We've lived through the last 25 years and CANNOT have the next 25 look like the last 25.

A civilian attack and they didn't even try to hide it this time.
It was as blatant as they come.

We shoud've gone to war in 2008. We lived through the blasts of the 2000s and if you ask me if i am scared of being shot in front of my family and not be avenged or prefer to die in a nuclear holocaust, I'd pick the latter.

Everyone dies once.

Atleast the second way, i know Pakistan would become sterile through India's retaliation. 

Army movements don't suggest escalation. But air to air missiles could have triggered it. But we don't care.

I do hope they solve Kashmir such that both countries get what they want. Maybe even a transparent border solution. Europe's done it. But it took a war for them to do it.

 You need 2 statesmen to do it. Not sure if Modi is that on this issue. Definitely not Munir. He's a fanatic..

Kashmir is ours at this point. There's no longer going back on it atleast for my generation.

Indus is still solvable. Some kind of co-ownership of the waters. China would need to be involved too. They would give up control and so would we and maybe so would pakistan. 
 But Indus will become unsolvable by the end of our lives. Too much blood would've spilled by then.

Pakistan will attack again tomorrow or the day after or 5 years from now. And we WILL retaliate. Each time bigger than the last.

No matter what the deterrent. No matter what the cost...

shankisaiyan

The risk is basically zero. "escalatory spiral" between nuclear armed nations has literally never happened. Every time it happens between India + Pakistan it de-escalates, just like it is right now.

tl;dr nothing is going to happen other than a handful of relatively meaningless small back and forth attacks.

GiantEnemaCrab

This is one of the area where America and China would normally agree, to prevent the breaking the seal on the nuclear taboo, but Trump and Ukraine is creating a lot of friction.  Western Powers normally wouldn't care one iota if India and Pakistan want to slaughter each other, so long as the conflict stays sub-nuclear, because they aren't going to to be helping in anyway, and in fact would be willing to sell weapons into the conflict.  But a Nuclear exchange would probably result in a unified answer to freeze both out from the trade system permanently to try and force them to disarm.

N3bu89

Since this occurred on Wednesday, if we just stay in Tuesday forever we won’t hit WW3 right? Right?

kbuva19

So we have an escalating conflict between two nuclear powers. 

The talibans will probably take the opportunity to attack from the north. Making Pakistan even more nervous. 

Combine that with the already high tensions between China and India.

pehr71

taco_studies_major

Someone get a mineral deal sorted out asap

Thandoscovia

Wait, Trump supporters said Trump would end all the wars and conflicts when he would become president.

Cantomic66

Automatic-Wonder-299

Glad we have measured, wise leadership in the US during these troubled times.

roaphaen

I don't want to be in this timeline anymore, chief.

Federal-Poetry3531

Republicans claimed it was Biden's fault Russia invaded Ukraine. They suggested it was proof of Biden's weakness. Does that mean this attack is Trump's fault and evidence of his weakness?

vs-1680

“MODI STOP IT!!! PLEASE!”

Worked on Putin right?

KillingSelf666

Funny enough Kegseth fired all the reserve US generals yesterday. Can’t make this shit up. This timeline can really lick balls.

casanovish

But I thought nobody would start a war with Trump in office?

https://thehill.com/policy/international/4244748-trump-says-hamas-attack-on-israel-war-in-ukraine-would-not-have-occurred-if-he-were-president/

yes_its_him

Marco Polo Bridge Incident equivalent for WW3?

SpookyKrillin

May 6 2025 about to go into the history books

ElZany

If Pak retaliates, which it will because they cannot admit they harbour terrorist organizations, the current Indian government will not be afraid to escalate this thing. Also an advantageous opportunity for the talibans to attack from the north. PAK is nervous about it’s existence

think2xbrother

Tensions between India and Pakistan have escalated following a deadly militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir on April 22. India has launched 'Operation Sindoor' targeting alleged terrorist sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, leading to aerial attacks, blackouts, and civilian evacuations along the border areas. Both countries accuse each other of escalating the conflict, with missile and drone engagements reported from both sides. Community leaders in countries abroad have called for unity among Indian and Pakistani communities to prevent tensions. There are increasing calls for diplomatic intervention to prevent further military escalation as fears of a full-blown war loom large.

India-Pakistan Escalating Conflict in Kashmir

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