International security

Pakistan threatens a nuclear war with India

With the West distracted by entertainment, professional sport and the U.S. presidential elections, the war clouds that started gathering over the Indian subcontinent in September have now thickened after a threat from Pakistan that it will use nuclear weapons to “annihilate” India.

The latest flare-up in the 70-year-old India-Pakistan conflict began after an attack on an Indian army base by jihadi suicide bombers infiltrating from Pakistan that left 19 Indian soldiers dead.

India responded with what it called a “surgical strike” on the terrorist camps inside the Pakistan-administered part of Kashmir, resulting in “significant casualties” among the jihadi militants, in addition to some regular Pakistan troops.