Rishi Sunak says India’s attacks on ‘terrorist infrastructure’ in Pakistan are ‘justified’ – as Starmer appeals for calm

By JAMES TAPSFIELD, POLITICAL EDITOR FOR MAILONLINE

Rishi Sunak insisted India’s attacks on ‘terrorist infrastructure’ in Pakistan are ‘justified’ today.

The former PM waded in amid fears the confrontation between the nuclear-armed powers could escalate dramatically.

Pakistan has described Delhi’s missile attacks as an ‘act of war’ and responded with shelling on the Indian side of the line of control. 

However, Keir Starmer has been appealing for calm insisting the rising tensions were a ‘serious concern’. 

In a post on X, Mr Sunak said: ‘No nation should have to accept terrorist attacks being launched against it from land controlled by another country.

‘India is justified in striking terrorist infrastructure. There can be no impunity for terrorists.’

Rishi Sunak insisted India ‘s attacks on ‘terrorist infrastructure’ in Pakistan are ‘justified’ today

The former PM waded in amid fears the confrontation between the nuclear-armed powers could escalate dramatically

An army soldier examines a building damaged by a suspected Indian missile attack near Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, today

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The Tory MP has Indian heritage and his wife Akshata Murty is the daughter of a prominent Indian billionaire tech mogul. 

At least 26 people, including a child, are reported to have died in the missile strikes which came in retaliation to last month’s massacre of tourists in the Indian part of Kashmir.

Pakistan responded with shelling – killing seven civilians according to Indian police and medics – and claimed to have shot down Indian fighter jets.

At PMQs Sir Keir said the UK was encouraging ‘dialogue, de-escalation and the protection of civilians’.

He said: ‘Rising tensions between India and Pakistan will be of serious concern for many across Britain.

‘We are engaging urgently with both countries as well as other international partners, encouraging dialogue, de-escalation and the protection of civilians.’

Shocking footage circulating on social media showed massive fireballs erupting as missiles struck targets across Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province and Pakistan-controlled Kashmir.

Delhi was quick to stress that its attacks – named Operation Sindoor, after the red pigment traditionally worn by the wives of Hindu men – targeted ‘terrorist infrastructure’ and did not strike Pakistani military assets, describing them as ‘focused, measured, and non-escalatory in nature’.

But Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif claimed the strikes hit civilian areas and described them as an ‘act of war’ as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif warned that India’s ‘heinous act of aggression will not go unpunished,’ erasing hopes that a dangerous escalation might still be avoided.

Just hours later, Pakistani missiles reportedly brought down five Indian fighter jets before pounding Indian positions across the Line of Control (LoC), the de facto border separating Indian- and Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, with mortar and artillery.

More than two dozen civilians in Pakistan and at least 10 in India have already been reported dead, with analysts and observers now fearing the conflict could tip into a full-scale war that ‘the world cannot afford,’ according to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Keir Starmer has been appealing for calm insisting the rising tensions were a ‘serious concern’

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Rishi Sunak says India’s attacks on ‘terrorist infrastructure’ in Pakistan are ‘justified’ – as Starmer appeals for calm

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