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With swaggering soldiers giving high kicks set to booming patriotic music cheered on by crowds, it was the usual daily border ceremony between nuclear-armed arch-rivals India and Pakistan.But there was one key thing at the show that was missing — the usual symbol of cooperation, a handshake between the opposing soldiers, did not take place.Relations have plummeted after New Delhi accused Islamabad of backing an attack targeting tourists on April 22 — the deadliest attack on civilians in Indian-administered Kashmir for years.Islamabad rejects the claims, and the countries have since exchanged gunfire, diplomatic barbs, expelled citizens — and ordered the border to be shut.The iron gates that separate the two sides remain locked.”It just fills you with passion and patriotic pride”, said Simarjeet Singh, 17, from the nearby Indian city of Amritsar, his face painted with the national tricolour flag.Many fear the risk of a military escalation in the coming days.- ‘Cheering’ -For years, the Attari-Wagah border in Punjab has been a hugely popular tourist attraction.Visitors from both sides come to cheer on soldiers goose-stepping in a chest-puffing theatrical show of pageantry.Numbers were muted at the sunset show on Saturday, but thousands of Indians still came to show their loyalty to their nation.”There were people from all over who looked and dressed different but were cheering and screaming at the same time — for our country and the soldiers,” Singh said, who came with his friends from college.Cheering crowds still filled the stadium-like space around the gates with noise, at least on the Indian side, where on Saturday some 5,000 people — about a fifth of full capacity —  watched.There was only a small fraction of the support on the Pakistani side.Enthusiastic spectators sang in chorus, waving flags and chanting “India Zindabad”, or “Long live India”.The frontier was a colonial creation at the violent end of British rule in 1947 which sliced the sub-continent into Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan.The daily border ritual has largely endured over the decades, surviving innumerable diplomatic flare-ups and military skirmishes.Reena Devi, 54, and PK Nath, 70, tourists from Tezpur in India’s northeastern state of Assam, are part of a tour of the country.”We are just so excited to be here”, Devi said. “We just wanted to see this ceremony and experience being at the border with Pakistan.”Nath said she and her group planned to visit a Hindu site in Jammu and Kashmir.”Some of us are now a little apprehensive about the security there”, she said.Nath said he “totally supported” New Delhi’s decision to expel Pakistani citizens and to shut down the border.”You can’t send people to kill here and still not expect any response,” Nath said.”We don’t know what will happen next but we are sure that the government would do the right thing,” he added. As the energetic masters of the ceremony goaded the crowd, the Indian soldiers in red-fanned hats stomped up to the locked gate, kicking their legs up — with Pakistanis doing the same on the other side.- ‘Anger’ -Aside from the ceremony, Indian and Pakistani citizens have been crossing the border since both sides cancelled visas before India’s April 29 deadline to leave — tearing apart families with relations in both nations.”There is obvious anxiety right now”, said Harpal Singh, an Amritsar-based taxi driver who regularly brings visitors to the ceremony, insisting the spectacle was still worth coming to see.”There was no one who didn’t come back impressed and excited”, he said.KT Ramesh, 57, from Kozhikode in the southern state of Kerala, said that even the scaled-down ceremony “was worth it”.”There was no shortage of passion among our people,” Ramesh said.He said that he’d “seen anger” about the attack in Kashmir “in whoever I spoke with, from our hotel staff to the taxi driver and other tourists here”.”Everyone was talking about it,” he said. “We don’t like a war but this time we must teach them a lesson”. 

Pope Francis smashed the stereotypical profile for a pontiff, becoming the Catholic Church’s first leader from the Americas and the first non-European since the eighth century.Some hope his successor, to be chosen in a conclave of cardinals in the coming days or weeks, could come from Africa or Asia.The late Argentine pontiff championed far-flung regions long overlooked by the Church, whether in his cardinal appointments or in his travels that strayed off the beaten path, from Mongolia to Papua New Guinea.A non-European pope would make sense, given that Catholicism is growing in Africa and Asia, while church attendance is dropping and growth near-stagnant in Europe.But in today’s increasingly complex world, analysts say an inclusive outlook and diplomatic skills will be key factors in the choice of the next pope, rather than a particular passport.The Church’s first pope, Saint Peter, came from Galilee, in today’s Israel, yet the long line of pontiffs in his wake have been chiefly Italian.Directly after being made pope on March 13, 2013, Francis joked that fellow cardinals had come “almost to the ends of the Earth” to find him.During his papacy, the former archbishop of Buenos Aires pushed the Church to be more inclusive of those from the so-called “peripheries”, whether geographical areas far from Rome, or long-ignored populations.Through his trips abroad and outspoken advocacy of excluded groups like migrants and the poor, Francis sought to bring new voices into the over 2,000-year-old institution.He actively sought out those “overlooked or under-represented in the universal Church”, R. Scott Appleby, a US historian of global religion, told AFP.But he warned “that doesn’t guarantee, of course, that the next pope will be from the margins, from a country that’s not as well-known, or is not Europe”.Appleby called it a “fool’s game” to try to predict the next pope’s nationality.- Political ‘counterpoint’ -Those betting on a non-European pope point to the fact that Francis has named the majority of the cardinals who will choose his successor, with many from under-represented regions.But Europe still has the largest voting bloc, with 53 cardinals, compared to 27 cardinal-electors from Asia and Oceania, 21 from South and Central America, 16 from North America and 18 from Africa, according to the Vatican.Some of those touted to succeed Francis also hail from outside the Church’s traditional bastions of power — notably Manila’s Luis Antonio Tagle or Ghana’s cardinal, Peter Turkson.Cardinals from Myanmar and the Democratic Republic of Congo are also cited as contenders, in an admittedly wide field.A pope from a poorer country brings a different perspective that would stand out in a world of strong and vocal Western leaders.Such a pontiff would have “a first-hand experience of the poor… a country in a region that is not ‘in the game'”, Appleby said.”And that lends a counterpoint to what have been the power centres on the political front. It’s important for the Church to not simply replicate the power centres of the world.”The conclave will be looking “for a cardinal capable of being a point of reference for many, according to different sensitivities”, added Roberto Regoli, an Italian historian at the Pontifical Gregorian University.- ‘World on fire’ -But experts agree that a papal contender’s ability to unite the Church in an increasingly fractious geopolitical context may be the central deciding point.”The new pope will have to redesign the Church in a world on fire,” Alberto Melloni, an Italian professor of the history of Christianity, told the Corriere di Bologna newspaper this week.Francois Mabille, director of France’s Geopolitical Observatory of Religion (IRIS), said if cardinals decide geopolitics is the “criterion of choice”, the Vatican’s current chief diplomat, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, “may fit the bill perfectly, even if European and Italian”.Appleby concurred: “It’s hard to imagine that the next pope can ignore the tumult and the challenges in the world.”They’ll be thinking: ‘Boy, the world’s in crisis… Who among us can emerge as someone of the proper charisma and talent to lead the Church at this point?'”

Indian business owner Rishi Kumar Jisrani has spent two days watching a messy scramble of people haul suitcases and drop loved ones at the border with Pakistan before it shuts, with dwindling hopes his family will be allowed across.As relations between Islamabad and New Delhi quickly deteriorate, the neighbouring nations have scrapped visas and expelled each other’s citizens, giving people just days to get to the frontier before it closes.Jisrani, 39, fears it is already too late, with his Pakistani wife and their two children now stuck on the other side.  “They have told her that they can allow my children to come back, since they are Indian passport holders, but not her,” he said, adding that he has received no advice from the Indian side.”How can we separate a mother from her children?”Since India accused Pakistan of backing a deadly April 22 attack on tourists in Pahalgam — claims Islamabad denies — the two countries have exchanged gunfire and diplomatic barbs. And at the busy Attari-Wagah border crossing, the fraying ties are painfully tearing apart the many families that straddle the divide.There were no immediate figures on how many citizens of either nationality are in each other’s country and are expected to cross.On Saturday, a steady trickle of cars and rickshaws brought those leaving to the border, with relatives waving farewell at a police barricade.- Emotional farewells -Indian citizen Anees Mohammad, 41, managed to get his 76-year-old aunt, Shehar Bano, to the border just ahead of India’s April 29 deadline to leave.”She is old and sick and had come here to meet everyone in the family,” said Mohammad, from Indore in India’s Madhya Pradesh state.Exhausted and emotional, he mopped his brow in the blazing midday heat as he bid his aunt goodbye.”No one knows when and if we will meet again.”At the frontier, the cleavage of families has painful historical precedent. The end of British rule in 1947 violently partitioned the sub-continent into Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan.This week’s expulsion orders add to longstanding distress for families of mixed nationalities, who often struggle to obtain visas.Jisrani said his wife, Savita Kumari, 35, is a Hindu like him and has a long-term Indian visa.She has previously used that to travel from her home in India to visit her wider family in Pakistan. But that did not make a difference amid the latest tumult.On Saturday, the hostilities did not appear to be de-escalating. The Indian army said its troops traded gunfire with Pakistan for a second day running, while Islamabad vowed to defend its sovereignty.- ‘Caught in the middle’ -Indian doctor Vikram Udasi, 37, said he and his Pakistani wife both rushed to reach the border crossing when the closure was announced, but arrived just too late.”My wife and our four-year-old boy, Aahan, went there to meet her mother and the rest of the family,” said Udasi.He has been at the crossing since Friday, while his wife and their child are barred by officers barely a kilometre away.”They are now stuck on the other side. They are not being allowed back. They are asking my wife to send the child,” he said.”Please allow them to return. Go ahead, cancel tourist and other short-term visas, but let those with families and long-term visas to return, please.”He condemned the attack in Kashmir, but despaired of the fallout on ordinary citizens like himself.”Whatever the issues between the two governments, it is us who are bearing the brunt of it,” he said.”We are caught in the middle of it, suffering.”

Pakistan’s leader said his nation was open to a neutral investigation on Saturday into a deadly attack in Indian-run Kashmir that New Delhi blames on Islamabad, and that has sent fraught relations into a tailspin with soldiers exchanging gunfire across their contested frontier.Islamabad denies involvement in the April 22 attack on tourists in Pahalgam, where a gang of gunmen killed 26 men in the worst attack on civilians in Kashmir for a quarter of a century.But India is adamant in it is accusation that Pakistan is supporting “cross-border terrorism”.Indian police have issued wanted posters for three men — two Pakistanis and an Indian — who they say are members of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba group, a UN-designated terrorist organisation.Rejecting Indian claims, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday said the country was “open to participating in any neutral, transparent and credible investigation” into the attack.Indian security forces have launched a giant manhunt for those responsible for the attack in Pahalgam, blowing up homes in Kashmir of Indian citizens suspected to be linked to the attack.Both sides have imposed a slew of diplomatic measures, and exchanged gunfire in Kashmir two times in as many days.India’s army said “unprovoked” small arms firing was carried out by “multiple” Pakistan army posts overnight.”Indian troops responded appropriately with small arms,” it said in a statement, adding that no casualties were reported.There was no confirmation from Pakistan, but both sides had confirmed gunfire between their respective forces the previous night.”Our valiant armed forces remain fully capable and prepared to defend the country’s sovereignty,” Sharif said at a military ceremony in Abbottabad. Inda’s information ministry on Saturday warned broadcasters to “refrain from showing live coverage of defence operations” in the “interest of national security”, and referencing the 1999 Kargil conflict with Pakistan.The United Nations has urged the neighbours, which have fought multiple wars, to show “maximum restraint”.Iran’s foreign ministry said Saturday that Tehran has offered to play mediator, a day after a senior Saudi official said Riyadh was trying to “prevent an escalation”.US President Donald Trump has downplayed the tensions, saying that the dispute will get “figured out, one way or another”.- Divided for decades -Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence in 1947. Both claim the territory in full but govern separate portions of it.Rebel groups have waged an insurgency in Indian-controlled Kashmir since 1989, demanding independence or a merger with Pakistan.A day after the attack, New Delhi suspended a water-sharing treaty, announced the closure of the main land border crossing with Pakistan, downgraded diplomatic ties and withdrew visas for Pakistanis.Islamabad in response ordered the expulsion of Indian diplomats and military advisers, cancelled visas for Indian nationals — with the exception of Sikh pilgrims — and closed the main border crossing from its side.Pakistan also warned that any attempt by India to stop water supplies from the Indus River would be an “act of war”.At the frontier, created at the end of British rule when the sub-continent was partitioned into Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan, distraught citizens crossed.The measures have abruptly ended rare visits to see relatives separated for generations by the border.Vikram Udasi, an Indian doctor, said his family was “caught in the middle” with his Pakistani wife and their child stuck on the other side of the Attari-Wagah border crossing.”Please allow them to return. Go ahead, cancel tourist and other short-term visas, but let those with families and long-term visas return, please,” begged the 37-year-old.Pahalgam marks a dramatic shift in recent Kashmiri rebel attacks, which typically target Indian security forces.Experts say that an Indian military response may still be in the pipeline.In 2019, a suicide attack killed 41 Indian troops in Kashmir and triggered Indian air strikes inside Pakistan, bringing the countries to the brink of all-out war.

Pakistan’s leader announced his readiness to defend the country on Saturday, after New Delhi blamed a deadly attack in Indian-run Kashmir on Islamabad, sending already fraught relations into a tailspin with soldiers exchanging gunfire across their contested frontier.Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also called for a “neutral investigation”, with India accusing Pakistan of supporting “cross-border terrorism” after gunmen carried out the worst attack on civilians in Kashmir for a quarter of a century.Islamabad denies involvement in the April 22 attack on tourists in Pahalgam, where a gang of gunmen killed 26 men.”Our valiant armed forces remain fully capable and prepared to defend the country’s sovereignty,” Sharif said at a military ceremony in Abbottabad.Both sides have imposed a slew of diplomatic measures, and exchanged gunfire in Kashmir two times in as many days.India’s army said “unprovoked” small arms firing was carried out by “multiple” Pakistan army posts overnight.”Indian troops responded appropriately with small arms,” it said in a statement, adding that no casualties were reported.There was no immediate confirmation from Pakistan, but both sides had confirmed gunfire between their respective forces the previous night.The United Nations has urged the neighbours, which have fought multiple wars, to show “maximum restraint”.Iran’s foreign ministry said Saturday that Tehran has offered to play mediator, a day after a senior Saudi official said Riyadh was trying to “prevent an escalation”.US President Donald Trump has downplayed the tensions, saying that the dispute will get “figured out, one way or another”.- ‘Track and punish’ -Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence in 1947. Both claim the territory in full but govern separate portions of it.Rebel groups have waged an insurgency in Indian-controlled Kashmir since 1989, demanding independence or a merger with Pakistan.Indian security forces have launched a giant manhunt for those responsible for the attack in Pahalgam, with police naming two Pakistani nationals among the fugitives.Indian police say three of the gunmen are members of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba group, a UN-designated terrorist organisation, and issued a bounty for their arrest.Indian troops blew up homes in Kashmir in their search and issued wanted posters with sketches of three men.Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said his country would “track and punish every terrorist and their backer”, vowing to “pursue them to the ends of the Earth”.Pakistan’s Sharif said the country was “open to participating in any neutral, transparent and credible investigation” in the attack.A day after the attack, New Delhi suspended a water-sharing treaty, announced the closure of the main land border crossing with Pakistan, downgraded diplomatic ties, and withdrew visas for Pakistanis.Islamabad in response ordered the expulsion of Indian diplomats and military advisers, cancelling visas for Indian nationals — with the exception of Sikh pilgrims — and closing the main border crossing from its side.Pakistan also warned that any attempt by India to stop water supplies from the Indus River would be an “act of war”.At the frontier, created at the end of British rule when the sub-continent was partitioned into Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan, distraught citizens crossed.The measures have abruptly ended rare visits to see relatives separated for generations by the border.Among those at the Wagah border leaving Pakistan was 39-year-old Ghaffar Musafir, who was returning to his home in Indian-administered Kashmir.”I’m Indian. I love India, but my family is here,” he said. “And it’s not like I hate Pakistan. I love Pakistan too.”Pahalgam marks a dramatic shift in recent Kashmiri rebel attacks, which typically target Indian security forces.Experts say that an Indian military response may still be in the pipeline.In 2019, a suicide attack killed 41 Indian troops in Kashmir and triggered Indian air strikes inside Pakistan, bringing the countries to the brink of all-out war.

Indian and Pakistani troops exchanged gunfire overnight in contested Kashmir for a second day running, the Indian army said Saturday, following a deadly shooting that New Delhi blames its arch-rival.Relations have plunged to their lowest level in years, with India accusing Pakistan of supporting “cross-border terrorism” after gunmen carried out the worst attack on civilians in contested Muslim-majority Kashmir for a quarter of a century.Islamabad denies involvement, and calls attempts to link Pakistan to the attack at Pahalgam “frivolous”.India’s army said “unprovoked” small arms firing was carried out by “multiple” Pakistan army posts “all across the Line of Control in Kashmir” overnight from Friday to Saturday.”Indian troops responded appropriately with small arms,” it said in a statement. “No casualties reported.”There was no immediate confirmation from Pakistan, but the two sides had confirmed gunfire between their respective forces the previous night.The United Nations has urged the neighbours, who have fought multiple wars in the past, to show “maximum restraint”.US President Donald Trump has downplayed the tensions, saying that the dispute will get “figured out, one way or another”.- ‘Reciprocal measures’ -Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence in 1947. Both claim the territory in full but govern separate portions of it.Rebel groups have waged an insurgency in Indian-controlled Kashmir since 1989, demanding independence or a merger with Pakistan.Indian security forces have launched a giant manhunt for those responsible for killing 26 men at the tourist hotspot of Pahalgam on Tuesday, with police naming two Pakistani nationals among the fugitive gunmen.Indian police say three of the gunmen are members of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba group, a UN-designated terrorist organisation, and issued a bounty for their arrest.On Friday Indian troops blew up homes in Kashmir in their search and issued wanted posters with sketches of three men.Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said his country would “track and punish every terrorist and their backer”, vowing “We will pursue them to the ends of the Earth.”A day later, Pakistan’s Senate passed a resolution condemning a “campaign by the Indian government to malign the Pakistan government”.Islamabad has warned that “any threat to Pakistan’s sovereignty and to the security of its people will be met with firm reciprocal measures”.A day after the attack, New Delhi suspended a water-sharing treaty, announced the closure of the main land border crossing with Pakistan, downgraded diplomatic ties, and withdrew visas for Pakistanis.Islamabad in response ordered the expulsion of Indian diplomats and military advisers, cancelling visas for Indian nationals — with the exception of Sikh pilgrims — and closing the main border crossing from its side.Pakistan also warned that any attempt by India to stop water supply from the Indus River would be an “act of war”.At the frontier, created at the end of British rule when the sub-continent was partitioned into Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan, distraught citizens crossed.The measures have abruptly ended rare visits to see relatives separated for generations by the border.Among those at the Wagah border leaving Pakistan was 39-year-old Ghaffar Musafir, who was returning to his home in Indian-administered Kashmir.”I’m Indian, I love India, but my family is here”, he said. “And it’s not like I hate Pakistan — I love Pakistan too”.Pahalgam marks a dramatic shift in recent Kashmiri rebel attacks, which typically target Indian security forces.Experts say that an Indian military response may still be in the pipeline.In 2019, a suicide attack killed 41 Indian troops in Kashmir and triggered Indian air strikes inside Pakistan, bringing the countries to the brink of all-out war.

Rapidly deteriorating relations between India and Pakistan over a deadly shooting in Kashmir are starting to have small but prickly economic consequences for both nations.The killing of 26 men on Tuesday in Indian-administered Kashmir, the deadliest attack on civilians in the Himalayan region in a quarter of a century, triggered public outrage across the world’s most populous country.India has unveiled a series of mostly symbolic diplomatic measures against Pakistan, after accusing its regional rival of supporting “cross-border terrorism”.Islamabad, which rejected the allegations, responded Thursday with similar tit-for-tat measures — but upped the ante by halting trade with New Delhi and closing its airspace to Indian airlines. Experts say that while the retaliatory moves will not have an immediate or far-reaching impact, it will likely result in longer and more expensive flights for Indians, while forcing Pakistan to increase pharmaceutical imports from other countries.Pakistan’s decision to close its airspace to carriers from its neighbour will see journeys from India to Central Asia, Europe and North America take up to two hours longer.”We are currently looking at, on average, an extra 60 minutes to 120 minutes for flights depending on where they go,” Sanjay Lazar, aviation expert and CEO of Avialaz Consultants, told AFP. – ‘Sabre rattle’ -Pakistan’s move is expected to hurt Air India, owned by Indian conglomerate Tata Group, the most.Air India said that some flights to North America, Europe and the Middle East will have to take an “alternative extended route”.And the extra flying time may eventually make flights more expensive.”There is extra fuel burn, because you’re taking a more circuitous route,” Lazar said.”And if you add an extra stop on the route, then you incur additional crew and landing costs too.”Airfares could rise if restrictions continue beyond six months, though airlines are unlikely to hike up fares immediately to avoid the risk of “not appearing patriotic enough”, he added.Mark D Martin, of Martin Consulting, said ticket prices could rise by more than 35 percent to Middle East destinations and by over 45 percent to Europe.”It’s always the airline business that gets impacted when India and Pakistan spar and sabre rattle,” Martin said.”Let’s hope better sense prevails, and this situation deescalates, as this will have an earning impact on airline financials.”Indian government data shows that when Islamabad closed its airspace in 2019 — after New Delhi hit it with airstrikes in response to an attack in Kashmir — domestic airlines saw a financial cost of nearly 5.5 billion rupees ($64.3 million) during the nearly five-month-long shutdown.- Third country trade -But analysts say Pakistan’s decision to halt trade is unlikely to have a major impact, as regular diplomatic flare-ups between the two nations over decades have prevented close economic ties.India exported less than $450 million in goods to Pakistan between April 2024 and January 2025, a tiny fraction of its overall shipments.Key items included pharmaceutical products worth over $110 million, and sugar worth over $85 million.”Imports from Pakistan were negligible — just $0.42 million, limited to niche items like figs, basil and rosemary herbs,” Ajay Srivastava of Global Trade Research Initiative, a New Delhi-based think tank, said in a briefing note.But Islamabad also said Thursday it had suspended “all trade with India” including “to and from any third country through Pakistan”.It is not immediately clear how this would impact indirect trade through countries such as the United Arab Emirates or Singapore. Indirect trade is far higher, totalling around $10 billion, according to Srivastava.”Informal sources say that Pakistan imports several Indian products this way, including chemicals, pharmaceuticals, cotton and yarn,” he said.”On the other hand, India may receive Himalayan pink salt and dry fruits such as dates, apricots, and almonds from Pakistan, also routed through third countries.”

Troops from Pakistan and India exchanged fire in disputed Kashmir, officials said Friday, after the United Nations urged the nuclear-armed rivals to show “maximum restraint” following a deadly shooting in the region.Relations have plunged to their lowest level in years, with India accusing Pakistan of supporting “cross-border terrorism” after gunmen carried out the worst attack on civilians in contested Muslim-majority Kashmir for a quarter of a century.Syed Ashfaq Gilani, a government official in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, told AFP Friday that troops exchanged fire along the Line of Control (LOC) that separates the two countries.”There was no firing on the civilian population,” he added.India’s army confirmed there had been limited firing of small arms that it said had been “initiated by Pakistan”, adding it had been “effectively responded to”.Indian security forces have launched a giant manhunt for those responsible for killing 26 men at the tourist hotspot of Pahalgam on Tuesday, with police naming two Pakistani nationals among the fugitive gunmen.On Friday Indian troops blew up homes in Kashmir in their search and issued wanted posters with sketches of three men.Islamabad denies involvement, and calls attempts to link Pakistan to the Pahalgam attack “frivolous”.”Any threat to Pakistan’s sovereignty and to the security of its people will be met with firm reciprocal measures in all domains,” a statement said, after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held a rare National Security Committee with top military chiefs.Pakistan’s Senate on Friday passed a resolution condemning a “campaign by the Indian government to malign the Pakistan government”.- Water treaty suspended -Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier said his country would “track and punish every terrorist and their backer.””We will pursue them to the ends of the Earth.”UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York that issues between the countries “can be and should be resolved peacefully through meaningful mutual engagement”.Meanwhile US President Donald Trump downplayed the tensions, saying aboard Air Force One that the dispute will get “figured out, one way or another”.Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence in 1947. Both claim the territory in full but govern separate portions of it.Rebel groups have waged an insurgency in Indian-controlled Kashmir since 1989, demanding independence or a merger with Pakistan.Indian police say three of the gunmen are members of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba group, a UN-designated terrorist organisation, and issued a bounty for their arrest.- ‘Reduce it to dust’ -A day after the attack, New Delhi suspended a water-sharing treaty, announced the closure of the main land border crossing with Pakistan, downgraded diplomatic ties, and withdrew visas for Pakistanis.Islamabad in response ordered the expulsion of Indian diplomats and military advisers, cancelling visas for Indian nationals — with the exception of Sikh pilgrims — and closing the main border crossing from its side.Pakistan also warned that any attempt by India to stop water supply from the Indus River would be an “act of war”.At the frontier, created at the end of British rule when the sub-continent was partitioned into Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan, distraught citizens crossed.The measures have abruptly ended rare visits to see relatives separated for generations by the border.Among those at the Wagah border leaving Pakistan was 39-year-old Ghaffar Musafir, who was returning to his home in Indian-administered Kashmir.”I’m Indian, I love India, but my family is here”, he said. “And it’s not like I hate Pakistan — I love Pakistan too”.Pahalgam marks a dramatic shift in recent Kashmiri rebel attacks, which typically target Indian security forces.The UN Security Council, in a declaration Friday, condemned the “terrorist attack” and called for those responsible to be brought to justice.Experts say that a military response may still be in the pipeline.In 2019, a suicide attack killed 41 Indian troops in Kashmir and triggered Indian air strikes inside Pakistan, bringing the countries to the brink of all-out war.Tuesday’s assault happened as tourists enjoyed tranquil mountain views at the popular site at Pahalgam, when gunmen burst out of forests and raked crowds with automatic weapons.Survivors told Indian media the gunmen targeted men and spared those who could give the Islamic declaration of faith.Most of those killed were Hindus, but also included a local Kashmiri Muslim guide, who died trying to stop the attackers.burs-pjm/mtp

Two months ago, Haider Ali waved goodbye to his wife as she left Pakistan, crossing the border to visit her family in India. Now the couple are not sure when they will see each other again.Pakistan and India are locked in an escalating diplomatic war of words after New Delhi said Islamabad was linked to a militant attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir this week.Both sides have cancelled visas for Indian and Pakistani nationals respectively and ordered them to leave, before both shut their busiest border crossing in Punjab.”She’s on the Indian side of the border and they’re not letting her cross. I’m extremely worried,” Ali, a 31-year-old heating technician, told AFP.Ali said his wife, an Indian national, has a Pakistani visa valid until November and was due to return home to Karachi soon, as he waited for news on the Pakistani side of the crossing.”The real terrorists should be caught and action taken against them, but it’s ordinary people like us who are suffering unjustly,” he added.Indian police have launched a manhunt for the fugitive gunmen, two of whom they say are Pakistani.The orders for Pakistanis and Indians to return home has distressed many families of mixed nationalities, who often struggle to obtain visas because of poor relations between Hindu-majority Indian and Muslim-majority Pakistan.Yasmine, 54, who gave up her Indian passport to marry a Pakistani, rushed to the border to return home after visiting family in India for the first time in 15 years.While she crossed with her Pakistani papers, her niece travelling with her and also married to a Pakistani was left stranded at the border, prevented from crossing back into the country because she only has an Indian passport.”She’s just crying. We absolutely must give her a visa as soon as possible. Her four children are here in Pakistan, waiting for her,” Yasmine told AFP.- ‘To part like this’ -The measures have also abruptly ended rare visits to see relatives separated for generations by the border, born out of India’s independence from the British in 1947.”I’m Indian, I love India, but my family is here. And it’s not like I hate Pakistan — I love Pakistan too,” said 39-year-old Ghaffar Musafir, who lives in Indian-administered Kashmir.He had hoped to spend longer rekindling ties with his relatives, travelling to the Pakistani city of Lahore to apply for an extension before diplomatic relations plunged.”And now I’m leaving my family behind — you can see for yourself the kind of connection we have, how it feels to part like this.”Pakistan’s foreign ministry said it did not know how many Indian nationals were in the country, but said Sikh pilgrims would be allowed to stay.”We can only hope that things get better as soon as possible,” said Musafir, before heading east, behind rows of barriers, soldiers, and flags.

Nepal marked on Friday the 10th anniversary of a massive earthquake that killed almost 9,000 people and left millions more homeless.The 7.8-magnitude quake on April 25, 2015, triggered avalanches and landslides across the Himalayan nation and flattened villages.Nepal’s Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli attended a memorial ceremony at the site of Dharahara tower, one of many buildings that crumbled in the quake.”We are vulnerable to other natural disasters such as floods, landslides, and are more prone to earthquakes. We need to prepare ahead against natural calamities,” Oli said.The 19th-century, nine-storey Dharahara tower toppled during the earthquake, killing more than 50 people.A replica has been built next to the rubble of the original.Attendees, including civil servants and local residents, observed a moment of silence at 11:56 am, the time the quake struck. Oli lit candles in memory of those who were killed.”I would like to offer my condolences to those all who lost their lives,” Oli said.At the historic Patan Durbar Square, people recounted harrowing tales of the day.”Whenever I remember that day, I still feel anxious,” Rajshree Maharjan told AFP.”I had just finished my meal when the quake struck. My neighbour’s house collapsed, and four people were killed after being buried under the rubble.”Memorials were held in several of the affected districts across the country.The aftermath of the quake exposed deep cracks in Nepal’s disaster response system and the rebuilding efforts were initially hit by political infighting, bureaucracy and confusion.Since then, significant progress have been made. According to official figures, nearly 90 percent of the homes destroyed have been rebuilt, alongside thousands of schools, health institutions, and public buildings.Temples and cultural landmarks are also slowly rising again.