Mumbai: Things have started hotting up in the Arabian Sea after the terror strike in Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday that left 26 tourists dead and several others injured. Soon after India downgraded diplomatic relations with Pakistan and put its decision on the sharing of Indus waters on hold, Pakistan closed down its airspace in the Arabian Sea and announced a surface-to-surface missile test from Karachi.
Barely hours after that the Indian Navy shared a video on X, showing its guided missile destroyer INS Surat firing a missile (possibly a Barak 8 surface-to-air missile). “Indian Navy’s latest indigenous guided missile destroyer INS Surat successfully carried out a precision cooperative engagement of a sea skimming target marking another milestone in strengthening our defence capabilities,” the Navy posted at 2.02 pm on Thursday.
The INS Surat is under the Navy’s Western Naval Command and the test was carried out somewhere in the Arabian Sea.
Pakistan, meanwhile, has said that it plans to test its missile anytime on Thursday or Friday. Experts believe that it is a missile with a range of 480 km that can target enemy ships. They wonder whether the Indian Navy’s post was in response to this announcement by Pakistan.
Some also wonder whether Pakistan’s announcement of a missile test is an effort to keep its waters and airspace near Karachi free from intrusion. Reports suggest that the Pakistan Air Force has displayed activity since Tuesday evening. Its assets have been tracked flying close to the Line of Control (LOC) with India, possibly to prevent another Balakot-like strike.
Pakistan prime minister Shehbaz Sharif also convened a National Security Committee meeting on Thursday to decide the country’s next course of action. The non-release of Indus waters will have a major impact on Pakistan’s agricultural output. Pakistan will, in all probability, move international fora against this move by India, but it is not sure of the outcome, given India’s global standing at the moment.
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