CNDP, NAAM and IDPD Statement of concern over the escalating tensions between India and Pakistan

The Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace (CNDP), the National Alliance of Anti-Nuclear Movements (NAAM) and the Indian Doctors for Peace and Development (IDPD) express grave concern over the escalating tensions between India and Pakistan

The current crisis was triggered by the brutal terrorist attack on April 22 at the Baisaran meadow near Pahalgam where 26 innocent civilians were brutally gunned down. This tragedy represents a major security lapse, as the area lacked any security outpost despite being a popular tourist destination and none of the terrorists have been apprehended. On the night of May 7, Indian forces conducted air strikes on multiple targets within Pakistan, reportedly aimed at terrorist bases. In response, Pakistan has retaliated with cross-border shelling so innocent civilians on both sides have been killed. This is to be unequivocally condemned.

India and Pakistan are the only two nuclear nations to have engaged in this kind of an armed confrontation with direct attacks within each-other’s sovereign territory. We are greatly concerned by the potential for miscalculation in this volatile situation and the grave consequences of further escalation.

As peace groups based in India, we are aghast at the level of Islamophobia and anti-Pakistan sentiment within Indian society and the role of the Indian media that has sought to whip up pro-war hysteria. These domestic factors differentiate the current situation from the period of the Kargil conflict in 1999 or the tensions that arose after the attack on the Indian parliament in 2001 and the attacks in Mumbai in 2008. The situation also differs from 2019, after the Balakot strikes, when an Indian jet was shot down but the conflict was defused after Pakistan swiftly returned the pilot.

Our greatest worry is that the current conflict might escalate to a nuclear exchange. Although the probability of such an event is still low, even a limited nuclear exchange could lead to millions of deaths in the region. It would also have serious consequences for billions of people all over the world.

The CNDP, NAAM and IDPD call upon the governments of both countries to immediately desist from further military actions and work towards peace through a political and diplomatic process.