Sawt Falasteen - Pakistan conducts second missile test, India readies civil defence drills

New Delhi blames Islamabad for backing an attack on tourists last month -- the deadliest against civilians on the Indian-administered side of the Himalayan territory for years -- sparking a series of heated threats and diplomatic tit-for-tat measures.

Pakistan rejects the accusations, and the two sides have exchanged nightly gunfire since April 24 along the de facto border in Kashmir, the militarised Line of Control, according to the Indian army.

UN chief Antonio Guterres on Monday said relations between Pakistan and India had reached a "boiling point", warning that "now is the time for maximum restraint and stepping back from the brink" of war.

The Pakistani military said Monday it had tested a surface-to-surface missile with a range of 120 kilometres (75 miles), a launch "aimed at ensuring the operational readiness of troops".

The missile test comes as Iran's top diplomat Abbas Araghchi was in Islamabad for talks with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday, ahead of a visit to India on Thursday.

Tehran has offered to mediate between the two nuclear-armed neighbours, and Araghchi will be the first senior foreign diplomat to visit both countries since the April 22 attack sent relations into a tailspin.

"We will spare no effort to help de-escalate the situation between the two countries," Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said.

Pakistan announced a previous test on Saturday of a surface-to-surface missile with a range of 450 kilometres -- about the distance from the Pakistan border to New Delhi.

It has not said where either of the tests took place.

Sharif, who cancelled a visit to Malaysia scheduled for Friday, said the launch "clearly shows that Pakistan's defence is in strong hands".

Indian information ministry officials said that several civil defence "mock drills" would take place on Wednesday, preparing people to "protect themselves in the event of a hostile attack".

- Calls to de-escalate tensions -

Muslim-majority Kashmir, a region of around 15 million people, is divided between Pakistan and India but claimed in full by both.

Rebels in the Indian-run area have waged an insurgency since 1989, seeking independence or a merger with Pakistan.

India regularly blames its neighbour for backing gunmen behind the insurgency.

Hindu nationalist Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said India will "identify, track and punish every terrorist and their backer" who carried out the attack at Pahalgam last month, and will "pursue them to the ends of the Earth."

Pakistan's government has denied any involvement in the shooting and vowed that "any act of aggression will be met with a decisive response".

No group has claimed responsibility for the April 22 killing of 26 mainly Hindu men in the tourist hotspot of Pahalgam, but Indian police are seeking at least two Pakistani citizens they say are among the alleged gunmen.

International pressure has been piled on both New Delhi and Islamabad, who have fought several wars over the disputed Kashmir region.

US Vice President JD Vance has called on India to respond to the attack in a way "that doesn't lead to a broader regional conflict".

Vance also urged Pakistan to "make sure that the terrorists sometimes operating in their territory are hunted down and dealt with".

Russia's Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday that Moscow was "following with great concern the atmosphere that has developed on the border", calling for both nations to "reduce tensions".

In Indian-run Kashmir, a vast manhunt seeking the gunmen continues across the territory, while those living along the frontier are moving further away -- or cleaning out bunkers fearing conflict.

On the Pakistani side, emergency drills have been carried out on playing fields, residents have been told to stock up on food and medicine, and religious schools have closed.

burs-ecl-pjm/dhw

B.Mahmoud--SF-PST