A Cabinet minister has stated that the United Kingdom is prepared to assist India and Pakistan in de-escalating tensions following an exchange of fire over Kashmir.
Officials reported that India fired missiles across the border into Pakistani-controlled territory in at least six areas overnight, killing at least 19 people and injuring 38 others.
The Pakistani military were said to have shelled Indian-controlled Kashmir.
The conflict between the two nuclear-armed nations has escalated following last month’s slaughter of tourists in Kashmir, which is controlled by India.
New Delhi blames Pakistan for the attack, which killed 22 people, but Islamabad denies responsibility.
On Wednesday, Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds stated that his Cabinet colleague David Lammy had contacted both countries in an effort to avert further escalation, as have U.S. and European officials.
Reynolds told the BBC that the situation in Kashmir was “hugely worrying; our message will be that we are a friend, a partner to both countries. We stand ready to support both countries.
“Both have a huge interest in regional stability, in dialogue, in de-escalation, and anything we can do to support that. We are here and willing to do.”
Meanwhile, the Foreign Office has amended its travel advice for the region, warning against all travel within 10 kilometres of the India-Pakistan border, or 10 miles from the Line of Control.
The de facto boundary splits disputed Kashmir between the two countries as well as Pakistan’s Balochistan province.
Pakistan had also blocked its airspace, and the Foreign Office advised affected Britons to contact their airline for more information.
Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney and Labour MP Stella Creasy expressed profound alarm over the escalation of violence, while former Conservative minister Tariq Ahmad warned that the “potential for war tonight is real”.
Pakistani officials claimed the strikes targeted at least two installations previously linked to proscribed terrorist groups.
One hit the Subhan Mosque in Bahawalpur, Punjab, killing 13 people, including a toddler, according to Zohaib Ahmed, a doctor at a neighbouring hospital.
Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif, Pakistan’s military spokesperson, said the missiles struck six areas in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and the country’s eastern Punjab region.
The Indian army reported that seven civilians were killed and 30 were injured in Poonch district when troops “resorted to arbitrary firing”, including gunfire and artillery shelling, across the Line of Control and their international border.
“It said it was responding in a proportionate manner.”
Shortly after India’s strikes, aircraft crashed into two villages in India-controlled Kashmir.
According to state-run Television, citing security officials, the country’s air force shot down five Indian jets in retaliation, but no further information was supplied.
There was no immediate response from India to Pakistan’s claim.
According to Pakistani Foreign Affairs Ministry, Indian forces launched the strikes from Indian airspace.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement late Tuesday that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged both countries to exercise maximum military restraint.
“The world cannot afford a military confrontation between India and Pakistan,” the statement read.
