ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Wednesday briefed the Islamabad-based diplomatic corps on India’s air strikes in Pakistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir during the night of 6 and 7 May 2025.
Addressing a specially convened session at Pakistan’s Foreign Office, Ishaq Dar strongly condemned the Indian aggression, stating it was a blatant violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty and a serious threat to regional peace and stability.
Ishaq Dar said that India’s actions were in direct violation of the United Nations Charter, international law, and the norms governing inter-state relations.
Rejecting India’s justification for the strikes, the Deputy Prime Minister categorically denied Indian claims of targeting “terrorist infrastructure,” calling them fabricated and devoid of evidence.
“There exists no credible proof linking Pakistan to the Pahalgam attack,” Dar said, referring to the recent terrorist incident in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister (DPM/FM), Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar @MIshaqDar50 , briefed the Islamabad-based Ambassadors on the Indian strikes in Pakistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir during the intervening night of 6 and 7 May 2025.
The DPM/FM strongly condemned… pic.twitter.com/JC5xw8cB4N
— Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Pakistan (@ForeignOfficePk) May 7, 2025
“Once again, the Indian leadership used the bogey of terrorism to promote a fictitious narrative of victimhood.”
Ishaq Dar lamented that India did not pay heed to the international community’s repeated calls for de-escalation and exercise of restraint. He urged the international community to hold India accountable for its irresponsible and reckless conduct.
Pakistan, India escalation
Tensions between Pakistan and India reached a boiling point after India launched air strikes on six locations inside Pakistan and Azad Jammu & Kashmir on the night of 6–7 May.
In response to the strikes, Pakistan’s armed forces carried out precision retaliatory operations and shot down five Indian fighter jets.
Islamabad termed the response “measured yet decisive,” aimed at defending its sovereignty while avoiding escalation.
Pakistan’s National Security Committee (NSC), which met on Wednesday morning with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in the chair decided that in consonance with Article-51 of the UN Charter, Pakistan reserves the right to respond, in self-defence, at a time, place, and manner of its choosing to avenge the loss of innocent Pakistani lives and blatant violation of its sovereignty.
The top security body authorised the Armed Forces of Pakistan to undertake corresponding actions in this regard.
India’s ‘unlawful act of war’
The apex security council deliberated upon the grave developments arising out of India’s “unprovoked, cowardly and unlawful act of war”.
“On the night of 6/7 May 2025, the Indian Armed Forces launched coordinated missile, air and drone strikes on multiple locations within Pakistan’s sovereign territory, including Sialkot, Shakargarh, Muridke and Bahawalpur in Punjab, Kotli and Muzaffarabad in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
These unprovoked and unjustified attacks deliberately targeted the civilian areas, on the false pretext of the presence of imaginary terrorist camps, resulting in the martyrdom of innocent men, women, and children, and causing damage to the civilian infrastructure, including mosques.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister (DPM/FM), Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar @MIshaqDar50 , briefed the Islamabad-based Ambassadors on the Indian strikes in Pakistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir during the intervening night of 6 and 7 May 2025.
The DPM/FM strongly condemned… pic.twitter.com/JC5xw8cB4N
— Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Pakistan (@ForeignOfficePk) May 7, 2025
India’s act of aggression also caused grave danger to commercial airlines belonging to brotherly Gulf countries, endangering the lives of thousands of on-board passengers,” a statement issued following the meeting stated.
Violation of international conventions
Besides, the Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project was also deliberately targeted in violation of international conventions, it added.
“The NSC unequivocally condemned these illegal acts as blatant violations of Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, which manifestly constituted acts of war under international law. The deliberate targeting of civilians, including innocent women and children, by the Indian military constitutes a heinous and shameful crime, that is in violation of all norms of human behaviour and the provisions of international law,” the NSC maintained.
Pakistan has been emphatically rejecting Indian allegations claiming the presence of terrorist camps on its territory. It would also be recalled that immediately after 22 April 2025, Pakistan made a sincere offer for a credible, transparent and neutral investigation, which unfortunately was not accepted.
The international media personnel had already visited these “imaginary terrorist camps” on 6 May 2025, and more visits were planned for 7 May 2025.