India needs to go and take back PoK: British MP Lord Meghnad Desai

Desai commented at a time when India and Pakistan are engaged in a new tussle following the Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir, which left 26 tourists, mostly non-Muslims, dead on April 22.

"I think the only way to solve the Kashmir problem now is for India to go and take POK over. We have the accession letter of the king. So it belongs to us," Desai, who is in New Delhi, told news agency ANI

Desai is a member of the UK Parliament's House of Lords.

India will attack us in next 24-36 hours, claims Pakistan minister

Pakistan Information and Broadcasting Minister Ataullah Tarar has claimed India will conduct a military operation against Islamabad over the Pahalgam terror attack and warned New Delhi of facing "catastrophic consequences".

Tarar held a press conference at 2 am on Wednesday to make the claims after India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave full freedom to his country's military to decide on a retaliation against the April 22 terror attack that killed 26 people in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam.

"Pakistan has credible intelligence that India intends carrying out military action against Pakistan in the next 24-36 hours on the pretext of baseless and concocted allegations of involvement in the Pahalgam incident.

Modi gives full freedom to Indian military

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given the armed forces 'complete freedom to decide on the mode, targets, and timing' of India's military response to the Pahalgam terror attack which was targeted at Hindus.

Modi took the decision on Tuesday at a meeting with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, and Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan.

The Prime Minister reaffirmed that it is 'our national resolve to deal a crushing blow to terrorism' and that he has 'complete faith and confidence' in the Indian military.

After the 2019 Pulwama terror attack, India conducted precision air strikes on terrorist camps in Balakot in Pakistan. The camps were run by banned terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed with the help from the Pak Army.

Pahalgam attack and its repercussions

On April 22, 2025, the terrorists- belonging to The Resistance Front (TRF), which is an offshoot of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT)- asked the victims to chant Islamic verses (kalma) and made them pull down their pants to be sure of their their non-Muslim religious identities (read circumcision)  before gunning them down before their families, including wives, children and daughters.

The massacre triggered nationwide outrage and escalated India-Pakistan tensions as New Delhi vowed to avenge the killings.

In an immediate response, India suspended the landmark Indus River water-sharing treaty and closed the Attari-Wagah road border, which acts as a lifeline of Indo-Pak trade and people-to-people ties, besides expelling diplomats, downsizing high commissions, and issuing a 48-hour deadline to Pakistani visa holders present in India to leave.