Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke Thursday with the prime minister of Pakistan and India's foreign minister as the Trump administration stepped up efforts to prevent the nuclear-armed South Asian rivals from going to war. In separate calls with Pakistani Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif and Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Rubio ``emphasized the need for immediate de-escalation,'' the State Department said Rubio also ``expressed U.S. support for direct dialogue between India and Pakistan and encouraged continued efforts to improve communications,'' according to readout

American Republican leader Nikki Haley has supported India's action against Pakistan. She said that Pakistan has no right to play the victim card here, no country can be given the right to support terrorism. Nikki Haley said that dozens of Indians were killed in the terrorist attack in India's Pahalgam, so India has every right to retaliate and take steps for its security. It is noteworthy that Nikki Haley is a former governor of South Carolina and has been the US ambassador to the United Nations during President Donald Trump's first term. She was the first Indian-American to be appointed

Pakistan launched several drone and missile attacks in Punjab on Thursday night. The Pathankot airbase was targeted, a drone attack took place in Jalandhar. However, India's air defense system destroyed them in the sky. So far, there is no report of any damage in the attack. Drone movement has also been seen in Bathinda. The Indian air defense system shot down all the drones and missiles fired towards Pathankot airbase and Jammu airport. There are reports of two Pakistani F-16 fighter jets also being destroyed during the attack.

Pakistan has attempted to attack 8 military installations in Punjab, including Pathankot, Amritsar, Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Adampur, Ludhiana, Bathinda and Chandigarh. Late last night, an explosion was heard near Amritsar, rocket fragments were also found in Ghagwal village of Hoshiarpur. During this, Amritsar was blacked out twice. After this, rockets and their fragments were found falling in 4 villages here in the morning. In view of the increased tension between India and Pakistan, Punjab and Rajasthan are on full alert. In view of the situation, the Punjab Police has cancelled the leave

Amit Shah says he has met with the governors of states bordering Pakistan and Nepal and asked them “to maintain the availability of essential goods and services and to keep relief and rescue forces” on alert. “Instructed to monitor and take swift action on anti-national propaganda on all media platforms and to maintain seamless communication and security at vulnerable points,” Shah said in a social media post.

In view of the ongoing tension between Pakistan and India, India conducted mock drill in 244 districts on Wednesday, during which a complete blackout was imposed in these districts for some time. During the mock drill, people, employees and students were also taught rescue and evacuation methods in emergency situations. During the mock drill, many cities of Punjab including Jalandhar, Amritsar and Mohali-Ludhiana echoed with the sound of sirens. A mock drill was conducted in 20 districts of Punjab from 7.30 pm, as soon as the siren sounded, the lights went off, vehicles stopped on the roads

India fired three missiles across the border into Pakistani-controlled territory early Wednesday, Pakistani security officials said, amid soaring tensions between the countries over last month's militant attack in India's portion of Kashmir.The missiles struck locations in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and in the country's eastern Punjab province, according to three security officials. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media on the record.There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage, and no immediate announcement about t

A mock drill was conducted by the Army in the Jalandhar Cantonment area of Punjab today. In which other defence teams including fire brigade teams were present. At around 8.15 pm, darkness descended on the entire cantonment area and sirens started sounding in the area. The entire area remained in blackout for about an hour and power was restored around 9 pm. Similarly, a mock drill was also conducted in Ferozepur. However, these are being seen as a practice before the main mock drill to be held tomorrow i.e. Wednesday.

Amid the ongoing water dispute between Punjab and Haryana, former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupendra Singh Hooda says that the Central government should fulfill its responsibility in this matter. He said that the Punjab government's move to stop drinking water is unconstitutional, unacceptable and undemocratic. Hooda alleged that the Aam Aadmi Party government of Punjab is doing this only keeping in mind the elections. He told Chief Minister Naib Singh Saini that like the Punjab government, Haryana should also immediately convene a special session of the Vidhan Sabha on this issue. He said th