India has just sent combat troops into Pakistani areas of Kashmir:
India announced on Thursday that it had carried out early morning “surgical strikes” on terrorist camps in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, a step that risks escalating the conflict between the two nuclear powers.
However, Pakistan denied that a cross-border strike had taken place, saying that Indian troops had fired small arms across the Line of Control, killing two soldiers and injuring nine.
A senior Pakistani security official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly, said Pakistan would consider a cross-border strike by India an act of war.
The official warned that Pakistan could use tactical nuclear weapons in self-defense if India initiates a war.
The Indian operation, if it occurred as described in Delhi, would be precedent setting. Though India’s military has almost certainly carried out cross-border raids, the government has never publicly announced them, even during the brief conflict in Kargil in 1999.
Indian officials said that ground troops crossed the de facto border shortly after midnight and destroyed a handful of terrorist camps in Pakistani-controlled territory, inflicting “significant casualties” and returning across the Line of Control before dawn.
The operation was planned in retaliation for two attacks this month on Indian positions, including one that killed 19 Indian soldiers.
Remember: both India and Pakistan have significant nuclear arsenals.
The DPRK does not scare me. This does.
You have two military establishments that are fixated on a final cataclysmic conflict, and, particularly in Pakistan, these beliefs exhibit significant sway over the decision making process.
We are dealing with a bunch of generals who would make Curtis LeMay look like a wimp.