ISLAMABAD: India and Pakistan are exchanging fire over their de-facto border since the Kashmir attack, but in New Delhi and Islamabad political foes are coming together and looking to score points.

On April 22, gunmen killed 26 people in the Indian-administered part of Kashmir, the disputed Himalayan region that has long been a dangerous thorn in relations between the nuclear-armed neighbors.

India accuses Pakistan of backing the perpetrators of the worst attack on civilians in years in Kashmir, an accusation rejected by Islamabad.

In addition to shooting over the Line of Control frontier in Kashmir, the two nations have exchanged diplomatic barbs, expelled citizens and ordered the border shut.

But while the world holds its breath over a possible escalation, analysts said that domestically both sides could use the crisis to generate political gains.

“New Delhi could use it to bolster its image as strong and confident and tough on terror,” said political scientist Michael Kugelman.

“Islamabad could use it to try to rally support for a civilian and military leadership that isn’t terribly popular at home,” Kugelman told AFP.

Pakistani opposition parties have in recent times become more openly critical of the military, which has long been heavily involved in politics and the economy.

But now the fallout of the Kashmir attack has “entirely diverted attention with one common enemy,” Pakistani political scientist Ayesha Siddiqa told AFP.

“When there is a fear of war, people show greater support for the army,” she said.

When the Senate voted on an anti-India resolution last week, jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party voted in favor, ensuring it passed unanimously.

Siddiqa said the party had no other choice or it would have been deemed unpatriotic.

“It is not about being with this installed government or the army, it is about standing against the enemy,” PTI’s spokesman Sheikh Waqas Akram said.

Information Minister Ataullah Tarar echoed the message: “We don’t speak as party members, we speak as Pakistanis.”

Likewise in India, Rahul Gandhi of the Congress party, usually a harsh critic of Modi, made a statement saying that the opposition was united in condemning the attack.

“Whatever steps the government wishes to take, we will fully support them,” Gandhi said.

“The intent behind this attack is to divide society and pit brother against brother,” he added.

“At such a time, it is extremely essential that every Indian remains united and stands together — so that we can foil this conspiracy of the terrorists.”

The youth wing of the Congress party has held rallies, waving the Indian flag and offering their support to Modi.

“I pray to God for the peace of those who lost their lives in this attack,” said Ravi Kumar, a member of the Indian Youth Congress, during a rally on Friday.

He called for “strong and decisive action. The people of the country and the opposition are standing firmly with you.”

Even members of India’s Muslim minority — portrayed as a Pakistani “fifth column” by some in Modi’s Hindu nationalist party — have got behind the government and taken aim at Pakistan.

“Remember, if you go into another country and kill innocent people, no country will remain silent,” said Asaduddin Owaisi, president of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen party (AIMIM).

On the Pakistani side, government officials and official media have presented the Kashmir attack as “fake and orchestrated by India.”

This message has been widely shared on social media in Pakistan, where disinformation is rife, has gone down well on the street.

“India is holding us responsible after having executed its own citizens,” said Matloob Inkalabi, a resident of Pakistani Kashmir.

In Islamabad, Waqas Sheikh, a 56-year-old trader, agreed.

“The attack was planned by the Indians, Pakistan has nothing to do with it,” he says, assuring that he “supports the army if India continues its provocations.”

Since the Kashmir attack, 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 organization.

Modi is “under pressure to deliver,” said Praveen Donthi from International Crisis Group (ICG).

“The public is used to a certain hostile rhetoric when it comes to Pakistan, and they are now begging for blood, they are asking for a military retaliation,” Donthi said.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar spoke with his UAE counterpart Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan on Tuesday to discuss Islamabad’s surging tensions with New Delhi, the foreign ministry said, as the threat of a military confrontation between the two nuclear-armed neighbors looms large. 

Tensions between India and Pakistan have boiled since Apr. 22, when gunmen killed 26 tourists at a popular tourist resort in Indian-administered Kashmir. The attack triggered outrage in India along with calls for action against Pakistan, whom it says is involved, accusations Islamabad has denied. India has long accused Pakistan of backing militancy in Kashmir, a region both nations claim and have fought two wars over. Islamabad says it only provides diplomatic and moral support to Kashmiris in their struggle for self-determination.

With India vowing to go after those responsible for the incident, top Pakistani leaders have reached out to senior officials in China, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Egypt and other countries since last Tuesday amid fears any action from India may lead to a wider conflict in the region.

“The two leaders discussed recent regional situation and matters of mutual concern,” the foreign ministry said about Dar’s conversation with Al-Nayhan. “DPM/FM apprised H.H. of Pakistan’s National Security Committee’s decisions in response to India’s unfounded allegations, inflammatory rhetoric, and unilateral actions.”

India and Pakistan have both announced a flurry of punitive measures to downgrade ties since the attack, with India suspending a key water-sharing treaty and Pakistan closing its airspace to Indian planes.

Pakistan’s foreign office said Al-Nayhan stressed the importance of upholding regional stability, promoting dialogue, exercising restraint and peaceful resolution of disputes.

“Reaffirming the strong fraternal ties between Pakistan and the UAE, both leaders committed to maintaining close coordination & consultations in light of evolving regional situation,” the statement added. 

The statement concluded by saying that both sides expressed their resolve to further enhance bilateral cooperation and advancing shared objectives of peace, stability and sustainable development. 

A day earlier, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun called for measures to reduce tensions between the two neighbors. 

“China welcomes all measures that will help cool down the current situation and supports carrying out fair and just investigations at an early date,” Jiakun said at a press briefing on Monday. 

“As the neighbor of both India and Pakistan, China hopes that India and Pakistan will exercise restraint, work in the same direction, handle relevant differences properly through dialogue and consultation, and jointly uphold peace and stability in the region.”

The last time India conducted an aerial strike against Pakistan was in 2019, when it retaliated for a suicide bombing in Pulwama in Indian-administered Kashmir in which at least 40 Indian paramilitary police were killed. Pakistan had denied complicity in that assault and the Indian strikes were followed by Pakistan’s downing of an Indian fighter jet and capturing of an Indian pilot, bringing the two neighbors to the brink of an all-out war.

Indian and Pakistani border forces traded fire for a fifth night in a row at the Line of Control (LoC) in the disputed Kashmir territory, the Indian Army said on Tuesday.