A series of military strikes last week by India and Pakistan brought the nuclear-armed rivals closer to a broader war.

Tensions between nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan soared after a deadly attack on tourists on the Indian-run side of Kashmir in April 2025, but two online videos of the Pakistani army chief visiting the disputed border are old.

As tensions escalated between the two nations last week post Operation Sindoor and Pakistan Army resorted to intensified shelling along the LoC, 12-year-old twins were killed when a mortar shell fired from across the border struck their rented home in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district.

In such a scenario, where Pakistan faces an existential threat, or believes that its territory is about to be overrun, it may decide to “go nuclear”—even at the risk of self-destruction. The latest test of this pattern arose in the aftermath of a terrorist attack in Indian-Administered Kashmir on April 22.

The military operations chiefs of India and Pakistan held talks by phone on Monday evening, broadcaster CNN-News18 said, two days after the nuclear-armed neighbours reached a ceasefire agreement following intense fighting last week.

India says its strikes into Pakistan-controlled Kashmir and Pakistan on Wednesday killed more than 100 militants.