Although a general war between the two countries is unlikely, crises between India and Pakistan are likely to become more fervid, risking an escalatory cycle, the US intelligence community has told Congress in a report

Overall, the study noted that recovery from all these impacts would take more than 10 years since the smoke would linger in the upper atmosphere

With the acquisition of nuclear weapons, Pakistanis may feel cockier as they can now threaten nuclear Armageddon on the planet

Pakistan had fully closed its airspace on February 26 after the Indian Air Force fighter jets struck a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorist training camp in Balakot in retaliation to the Pulwama attack on February 14

The fresh mandate will allow Modi to further relax investment rules, which means India's private sector giants such as Reliance, Tata and Mahindra would be prepared to invest billions of dollars in the defence sector.

The White House condemned the intensifying conflict and urged \"both sides to take immediate steps to de-escalate the situation.\"

 The Donald Trump administration has issued a number of statements following heightened tensions between long standing rivals India and Pakistan.

Calling for removing non-tariff barriers between India and Pakistan, the Indian envoy said on Friday both the countries need to shun violence and normalise relations in order to take the two-way trade to $30 billion from the present $5 billion.

Even as a full-fledged India-Pakistan war seems a few stages away - unless Pakistan retaliates, which it might be tempted to after India's surgical strikes - there is much that both nations will have to weigh in terms of the price that they will incur if there is an all-out war.

...but with caution - preparing the ground to emerge as a counterweight to China with tacit support from the West.

India does not face the prospect of being compelled to get into a military alliance with the US. And yet, India is being trusted by the US in the matter of transfer of technology.