Day after India strikes Pakistan, BJP says nobody wants war
The BJP spokesperson's remarks come amid rising concerns over the possibility for further conflict between the two nuclear-armed neighbours
The day after India launched strikes on Pakistan, India's ruling party Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national spokesperson Nalin Kohli said despite the escalating tensions, nobody wants war.
"Nobody wants a war," he told the BBC World Service's Newshour programme.
His remarks come amid rising concerns over the possibility for further conflict between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.
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However, he said India will not "stay away from protecting [the] rights" of its citizens and "ensuring that Indian blood is not spilled…in a power game, based on a network that supports terrorists or breeds terrorists".
He asserted that India only struck sites that he claims are "directly associated with terrorist groups", and did not target "anything to do with the Pakistani military".
Tensions between the two neighbouring countries escalated after India launched strikes in Pakistan last night, in response to the Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 lives.
The Indian government has emphasised that the strikes were "measured and non-escalatory," targeting only known terror camps and avoiding civilian, economic, or military facilities.
Pakistan has denied any involvement in the Pahalgam attack.
Meanwhile, at a press briefing, Pakistan Army spokesperson Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry confirmed that at least eight people had been killed and 35 injured.
India says 15 people have been killed on their side.
