The Pakistani Foreign Ministry pointed to the defensive nature of the attacks on India.

Pakistan's strikes on Indian territory are a defensive measure. This was announced on May 10 by Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar.

"The armed forces are fully prepared, self—defense measures have been taken," he said, as quoted by Geo News channel.

According to him, Pakistan carried out strikes in response to the actions of India, which used unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and missiles during its military operations. He also added that Indian aggression is unacceptable, calling their actions over the past 48 hours a "continuous stream of lies."

High-voltage round: the conflict between India and Pakistan has entered a combat phase

Izvestia found out whether residents of the most numerous country in the world approve of the decision of their authorities and what the escalation could lead to.

On May 10, Pakistan launched a large-scale military operation Banyan un Marsus ("Solid Wall") against India. As part of the operation, it is planned to strike several Indian strategic targets. Later, Pakistan announced that the Indian Adampur airbase had been destroyed.

On May 9, Reuters reported that explosions were heard in Kashmir and the Indian city of Amritsar in Punjab state. Later, the Government of Pakistan stated that the Indian Armed Forces (AF) carried out several missile strikes on Pakistan's air bases, including Nur Khan, Murid and Shorkot (Rafiki).

Relations between Pakistan and India have been strained since the terrorist attack on April 22 near the Indian city of Pahalgam in the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir. As a result of the incident, 27 civilians were killed. On May 7, the Indian Ministry of Defense announced the start of the Sindoor military operation against Pakistan. According to the Pakistani Samaa TV channel, Islamabad launched retaliatory missile strikes on Indian territory.