After reading this part of the current BBC live coverage, thought a thread might be handy -- hope it isn't needed.
A former senior British diplomat has told the BBC News Channel he’s worried about a possible escalation that “could be quite fast”.
Tim Willasey-Wilsey, who was posted to Pakistan in the 1990s and is now a visiting professor at King’s College London, says Indian strikes on Pakistan “have actually been quite restrained”, targeting sites linked to “Kashmiri terrorist groups”.
But he says that civilians are killed in these strikes, and that “it’s in Pakistan’s DNA to respond”.
When Pakistan does respond, Willasey-Wilsey says it will be “very difficult” for them to justify their actions, as there are "no terrorist training camps in India".
“They clearly mustn't attack the civilian population,” he says. “I suspect what they might do is go for military sites ... but even that is going to inflame passions in India.”
“And then we will be on what strategists call the escalation ladder, that could really be quite fast.”