Maduka

Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar says its responses to Indian attacks have shown “restraint”, but that the country deserves a larger retaliation at a place, time and “manner of its choosing”.

Pakistan’s military says it has downed 25 Indian drones over its territory, while India says it thwarted a Pakistani drone and missile attack on its military.

The organisers of one Pakistan’s biggest feminist rallies, Aurat March Karachi, have announced they are postponing this year’s annual march, due to have taken place on May 11, because of the “war-like situation between India and Pakistan”.

“In the current climate, we must consider the risks that disproportionately impact those same communities: the fear of movement, the possibility of violence, and the increased surveillance that always accompanies national security narratives,” the group said in a post on Instagram, adding the decision to postone was not made “easily” or “quickly”.

It added: “War – or even the potential for it – pushes back all struggles for rights, especially the feminist struggle.”

Each year, the rally brings out thousands of people across the country in various cities to demand women’s rights.

Security analyst Syed Mohammed Ali says the nuclear weapons possessed by India and Pakistan “create a scenario for mutually assured destruction”.

“Pakistan and India have enough nuclear weapons to wipe the other side out several times over,” Ali, who is based in Islamabad, the Pakistani capital, told The AP news agency.

Both countries have “deliberately developed” the size and range of their stockpile to remind the other about the guarantee of mutually assured destruction, he adds.

The arsenals are a defensive move to prevent and deter further fighting, because “neither side can afford to initiate such a war or hope to achieve anything from it,” Ali says.

There have been attacks in Akhnoor, Samba, Kathua and multiple other locations in Jammu in Indian-administered Kashmir, Reuters reports, citing an unnamed Indian official.

Reuters is also citing Indian military sources as saying that a likely drone attack launched by Pakistan has targeted the area around Jammu Airport in Kashmir.

We will bring you more information as we get it.

Pakistan’s Punjab government has announced the closure of all public and private schools across the province on tomorrow and Saturday, according to a memo issued by Secretary School Education Khalid Nazir Wattoo, Pakistani outlet Dawn reported.

“However, examinations scheduled by/on behalf of International Examining bodies [O Level and A Level] shall continue as scheduled,” Dawn cited the memo as stating.

The British Council Pakistan had earlier cancelled many exams – including the GCE, IGCSE, IELTS and University of London exams scheduled for today in Lahore “due to the developing situation”, Dawn reported.