India airstrikes inside Pakistan's Kashmir targeting militants
Pakistani soldiers after the Indian Air Force launched airstikes against a militant camp in Pakistan, Feb. 26. Photo: Jameel Ahmed/AFP/Getty Images
India said Monday night it launched airstrikes across the ceasefire line inside Pakistan's territory in response to a deadly terrorist attack on the Indian side of the disputed Kashmir region.
Why it matters: The strikes mark an escalation of tensions between the two allies of the United States — and both countries have nuclear weapons. The U.S. sees India as key to its Indo-Pacific strategy and Pakistan as a vital partner in negotiations with Taliban leaders over the future of its neighbor Afghanistan, with talks in Qatar this week. However, former U.S. envoy to the UN Nikki Haley said on Tuesday the U.S. should cease giving Pakistan aid. "Pakistan ... has a long history of harboring terrorists who have killed US troops in Afghanistan," she wrote in a blog for her new policy group, Stand America Now.