Pakistan says India carried out illegal strikes, warns of lowered nuclear threshold and urges comprehensive dialogue

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, former foreign minister of Pakistan and leader of a multiparty parliamentary delegation to the United States, told reporters at the United Nations that India launched “illegal strikes within Pakistan in violation of the UN charter, in violation of international law,” and that those strikes targeted civilian infrastructure, places of worship, dams, and energy facilities.

Why it matters: Bilawal said the recent exchanges — including strikes and missile launches between the two countries — lowered the threshold for full-scale military conflict between two nuclear-armed states and created a more dangerous regional environment. He urged diplomacy and a mutually agreed mechanism to address terrorism, water disputes and Kashmir.

Bilawal said the strikes followed a terror attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that India used as the pretext for its operations. Pakistan, he said, offered to join an impartial international investigation into that attack and “we did so because we were confident, our…