Sushma Swaraj India wants to avoid any "further escalation of the situation" after conducting "pre-emptive" air strikes against militant camps in Pakistani territory, foreign minister Sushma Swaraj said on Wednesday, reports AFP.
The incursion across the ceasefire line that divides Kashmir came after New Delhi threatened retaliation over the February 14 suicide bombing that killed 40 Indian troops, and was claimed by the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) group.
Swaraj stressed during talks in China with her counterparts from Beijing and Moscow that "no military installations were targeted" in the air raid, and the target was selected to avoid civilian casualties.
She said the decision was taken "in the light of the continuing refusal of Pakistan to acknowledge and act against terror groups on its territory, and based on credible information that Jaish-e-Mohammed was planning other attacks in... (India)".
"The limited objective of that pre-emptive strike was to act decisively against the terrorist infrastructure of Jaish-e-Mohammed in order to pre-empt another terror attack in India," Swaraj added.
"India does not wish to see further escalation of this situation. India will continue to act with responsibility and restraint."
Pakistan denied India's claim that the attack had inflicted major damage and casualties on militants, calling it "reckless and fictitious" and vowing a response in due course.
The operation is India's first use of air power on Pakistani soil since the two went to war in 1971.
Reuters adds: China's Foreign Ministry on Wednesday said it reiterated its call for India and Pakistan to exercise restraint.
Ministry spokesman Lu Kang made the comment at a regular news briefing in Beijing.
AFP reports: Pakistan does "not want to go towards war" with India, its military spokesman said Wednesday, hours after Islamabad said it shot down two Indian warplanes in its airspace, igniting fears of an all-out conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbours.
"We do not want escalation, we do not want to go towards war," Major General Asif Ghafoor told a press conference in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, calling for talks with New Delhi.
He added that two Indian pilots had been captured, with one in custody and one in hospital.
Ghafoor said the jets had been shot down after Pakistani planes earlier Wednesday flew across the Line of Control, the de facto border in disputed Kashmir, to the Indian side in a show of strength, hitting non-military targets including supply depots.
Pakistan has banned Indian films just few hours after a strike by the Indian Air Force on its territory, reports NDTV.
The order also came in response to comments by Indian movie producers who said they would protest the deadly attack on Indian paramilitary police in Pulwama by not distributing their films in Pakistan.
Pakistan Film Exhibitors Association will boycott Indian films, said Pakistan's Information and Broadcasting Minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain.
The minister said he has also instructed the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority to crack down on 'made-in-India advertisements'.
The makers of films "Total Dhamaal", "Luka Chuppi", "Arjun Patiala", "Notebook" and "Kabir Singh" had announced that they will not screen their movies in Pakistan.
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