Srinagar, May 1 — Since the April 22 attack in Pahalgam, India and Pakistan have been continuously exchanging fire for the seventh straight night, between April 30 and May 1, with no casualties or property damage reported.
In a statement, the Indian military said that Pakistan initiated “unprovoked small arms firing” across the LoC in the Kupwara, Uri, and Akhnoor sectors.
“The firing was responded to proportionately by the Indian Army,” the statement added.
On Wednesday, the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of both countries held a hotline conversation over the ongoing exchange of fire.
Tensions have escalated between the two nuclear-armed neighbors following the Kashmir attack. India has blamed Pakistan for the incident—a charge Islamabad has strongly denied, calling instead for a neutral international investigation.
Both countries have taken severe measures against each other, with India announcing its withdrawal from the Indus Waters Treaty, a key water-sharing agreement, while Pakistan responded by declaring the Shimla Agreement—which defines the Line of Control and governs bilateral engagements—as null and void.
India has also ordered all Pakistani nationals to leave the country and revoked SAARC visa privileges. At the Punjab border, emotional scenes were witnessed as families were forced to separate. It looked as if India and Pakistan were being partitioned all over again. A Pakistani mother was seen bidding farewell to her Indian-born, breastfeeding child and husband, holding his hand tightly as they parted.
In Kashmir, over 150 women—wives of former militants who returned from Pakistan-controlled Kashmir under a 2010 rehabilitation policy introduced during then-Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s tenure—now face deep uncertainty. Having lived in the Valley for more than a decade without formal citizenship or valid travel documents, many fear they too may be deported and torn apart from their families.