On Wednesday morning, India carried out multiple missile attacks against Pakistan and parts of Kashmir, managed by Pakistan. At least 26 people have died in Kashmir, including a three-year-old child.
India claims to be sindoor targeting nine sites with “terrorist infrastructure.”
In response, Pakistan claims it defeated five Indian planes, but India has not commented on the claim. Local officials say that Pakistan’s fires have killed at least 10 civilians in India-controlled Kashmir since Wednesday morning.
Al Jazeera visualizes the military capabilities of both countries, what has happened so far.
Why did India attack Pakistan?
On Wednesday morning, Pakistani forces said Indian missiles had hit six locations, including four locations in Punjab.
The remaining two targeted locations were both Pakistan-controlled Kashmir Muzafarabad and Kotori.
India claims it also ranked seventh in Binbar, a Bint Binbar that is also in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir.
The attack was India’s response to a fatal attack on tourists on April 22, in which the gunmen killed 25 tourists and local pony riders in the scenic Pahargam town of Pahargam in India-controlled Kashmir. Multiple witnesses’ accounts suggest that the attackers attempted to separate the men from the women and select non-Muslims as targets. The gunmen then fled, and Indian security forces have yet to find them in 16 days.
Tensions between India and Pakistan
In 1947, British colonists divided the Indian subcontinent into Pakistan, a Muslim majority and a Hindu majority India, drawing a series of partitions. What followed was one of the biggest and perhaps the bloodiest movements in human history.
78 years later, both countries remain bitter enemies. But now they have nuclear weapons.
Tensions between India and Pakistan escalated sharply again after the attack on Pahargam.
The majority of Muslim Kashmir region is a former prince state and has been in debate since the division of India. India, Pakistan and China each control part of Kashmir. India has made all that claim, but Pakistan has made the point that India controls.
The two countries have been in war four times, with many cross-border skirmishes and escalations, including one in 2019, after at least 40 Indian soldiers were killed in a suicide attack claimed by Pakistan-based armed group Jaish e Muhammad.
In retaliation, India launched airstrikes at Barakot, Khyber Pakhtunka later that month, claiming that the jets had attacked “terrorist” bases and killed many fighter jets. Many independent analysts have questioned whether India actually attacked the bases of armed groups and whether it killed as many fighters as it claims.
What are the military capabilities of India and Pakistan?
According to the 2025 Military Power Rankings for Global Firepower, India is the fourth strongest military force in the world, while Pakistan ranks as the 12th strongest.
India is the fifth largest Spender in the military world. According to the Stockholm International Peace Institute (SIPRI), in 2024 it spent $860 billion, or 2.3% of gross domestic product (GDP).
In comparison, Pakistan spent $10.2 billion on its military in 2024, or 2.7% of its GDP.
India’s military power is 5,137,550 staff, almost three times more than Pakistan’s 1,704,000. Neither country has required drafting.
India owns 2,229 military aircraft compared to Pakistan’s 1,399.
India has 3,151 combat tanks compared to Pakistan’s 1,839.
Pakistani navy covers 1,046 kilometres (650 miles) of the Arabian Sea and owns 121 naval assets, while the mainland coast of India covers 6,100 km (3,800 miles) of 293 naval assets.
India and Pakistan’s nuclear weapons race
According to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICANW), a global coalition to ban nuclear weapons in 2023, countries spent an estimated $91.4 billion on nuclear weapons, while India spent $2.7 billion and $1 billion in Pakistan.
India conducted its first nuclear test in May 1974, and five more tests in May 1998, declaring it as a nuclear weapons state.
Pakistan conducted its first nuclear test shortly after India in 1998, officially becoming a nuclear weapons state.
Since then, the two have been involved in arms races that cost billions of dollars, the two were born together.
According to the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) missile defense project, New Delhi’s nuclear deterrence forces are primarily targeted at rivals in Pakistan and China. India has developed longer range missiles and mobile land missiles. Along with Russia, it is in the development stages of ship and submarine missiles.
CSIS also states that Pakistani arsenals consist primarily of mobile short-range and medium-range ballistic missiles, with sufficient scope to target India. China’s critical technical assistance with nuclear and missile programs has been supporting Pakistan in recent years.
Who will supply India and Pakistan with weapons?
According to Sipri, there was cross-border tension between the two countries’ imports of fuel weapons.
India was the second largest arms importer after Ukraine from 2020 to 2024, gaining an 8.3% share of global imports. The majority of Indian imports come from Russia, but they source arms from France, Israel and the United States.
Crossing the border, Pakistan’s weapons and weapons imports rose 61% between 2015 and 19th to 2020 as they began receiving delivery, including fighter jets and warships. Globally, Pakistan is the fifth largest arms importer, importing 4.6% between 2020 and 24.
Since 1990, China has been Pakistan’s main supplier. China provided 81% of Pakistan’s arms imports from 2020-24. Russia supplied 36% of India’s weapons during the same period.
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