After the April 22 terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, India, the tension between India and Pakistan has reached a peak. Responding to the attack in Kashmir that killed 26 tourists, India launched missile attacks on nine locations in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir and interior Pakistan.

  In this attack called 'Operation Sindoor', India has claimed that it was a planned operation targeting terrorist camps, while Pakistan has responded that innocent civilians, including women and children, were killed in that attack.

Pakistan has claimed to have shot down five Indian fighter jets and one drone, while India has made it clear that it has no plans to attack more. Nevertheless, the tension between the two nuclear-armed countries has seriously worried South Asia and the international community as a whole. 

Since the partition of 1947, India and Pakistan have been in a constant state of tension. After the first Kashmir war at the time of partition, to the Kargil wars of 1965, 1971 and 1999, there has been immense loss of human wealth. If the military tension between these nuclear-powered countries goes out of control, it will cause a crisis in the lives of common people of India-Pakistan, regional peace and global geopolitics. Therefore, in this sensitive situation, both countries will have to adopt discretion and restraint, not show more power.

War-level tensions between India and Pakistan were last seen in 2019. After the Pulwama attack in which 40 Indian security personnel were killed, India claimed to have carried out an airstrike on the Jaish-e-Mohammed camp in Balakot in Pakistan.

Pakistan shot down the Indian plane in response. Even then, war could have broken out, but captain Abhinandan Bardhaman was returned by Pakistan to India due to international initiatives. The international initiative and restraint of the two countries brought the situation under control at that time, there is a need for the same creative initiative now. 

The humanitarian crisis that war causes is clear from the examples of Gaza, Ukraine, Syria or Afghanistan. The war in Ukraine that started in 2022 has killed 40,000 people and displaced 4 million. The ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza has killed more than 50,000 civilians. The prevention of war is only constructive, the end is always destructive. Therefore, moderation is the beginning.

again war is not a new practice for India and Pakistan. Ever since the partition of 1947, India and Pakistan have always lived in a wartime mentality. Apart from the conflict in 1947 with partition, the two countries went to war in 1965, 1971 and 1999. Occasional terrorist attacks have exacerbated the bitter relationship between the two countries.

Attacks in Pathankot, Uri, Nagrota, Pulwama and Pahalgam in the last decade have been inflaming tensions. But the onus is on the politically responsible leadership to keep tensions under control. Because war has not done justice to mankind in the world.

After the attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on southern Israel a year and a half ago, there is no indication when the attack by Israel will end. Russia's attack on Ukraine, which began three years ago, has not yet stopped. If the problem could have been solved through war, it could have been solved through the 1965, 1971 and 1999 wars between India and Pakistan. But to say that the problem still exists does not mean that war is the solution.

World wars have caused countless civilian deaths, the displacement of millions and long-term social divisions. Moreover, the people living in the border areas have to bear the brunt of the war. Economically, war is also destructive. South Asia now faces mountains of challenges such as climate change, unemployment, energy crisis and trade imbalances.

Both India and Pakistan spend a large portion of their GDP on defense budgets. India spent 76 billion dollars in 2023, while Pakistan's defense expenditure has crossed 10 billion dollars. The country itself will be stronger by spending this war-related expenditure on education, health and infrastructure.

So what is needed now is not mutual revenge, but maturity. Political leadership, civil society, intellectuals and media should also emphasize the power of peace and not the frenzy of war. In order to break the story, several countries of the world, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union, are asking India-Pakistan to exercise restraint. Neighboring countries like Nepal can only wish for peace. Because the role of any third country would have been effective, the Russia-Ukraine, Israel-Palestine wars would have been stopped already.