How much worse may the situation between India and Pakistan get?
The most likely outcome is that the latest deadly flare-up between India and Pakistan will end relatively soon: In the little over 25 years that the two countries have possessed nuclear weapons, both have become very good at engaging in tense and violent confrontations without them escalating to threaten the entire planet.
When he announced the cross-border missile strikes that began what India is calling “Operation Sindoor,” Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri described his country’s actions as “measured, non-escalatory, proportionate, and responsible.” Neither side has yet sent ground troops into the other’s territory, which would be the clearest sign yet of a wider war.
On Wednesday, India launched missile attacks into Pakistan in response to a brutal massacre of tourists in Ap