He said Pakistan “reserves the right to respond, in self-defense, at a time, place and in its own chosen manner” against what he called India’s flagrant violation of its sovereignty.

Therefore the Armed Forces are authorized to take appropriate action in this regard while confirming that its military personnel shot down five Indian fighter jets and unmanned aerial vehicles during India’s attack on, according to New Delhi, terrorist targets in Pakistani territory and the Jammu and Kashmir region, under Islamabad’s jurisdiction.

For the Pakistani authorities, India’s military action was unprovoked and unjustified and “on the false pretext of the presence of imaginary terrorist camps”.

They noted that the onslaught resulted in the deaths of men, women and children and damage to civilian infrastructure, including mosques.

The National Security Committee called the attack an act of aggression.

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