
NEW DELHI: As tensions escalate between India and Pakistan, former Indian cricketers Virender Sehwag and Shikhar Dhawan voiced robust help for the Indian Armed Forces, asserting that the nation will ship a agency response to current cross-border hostilities. Taking to his official X deal with, Sehwag accused Pakistan of selecting battle and condemned its actions to defend terrorist components.“War has been chosen by Pakistan when they had an opportunity to keep quiet.They have escalated to save itβs terrorist assets, speaks so much about them. Our forces will reply in the most appropriate manner, a manner Pakistan will never forget,” Sehwag posted on May 8, 2025.Former India opener Shikhar Dhawan additionally expressed solidarity with the armed forces, lauding their swift and courageous response.“Respect to our brave hearts for protecting our borders with such strength and stopping the drone attack on Jammu. India stands strong. Jai Hind!” Dhawan wrote on X.The reactions from the cricketers got here as defence sources confirmed that Pakistan had launched eight missiles focusing on key areas, together with Satwari, Samba, RS Pura, and Arnia. All incoming missiles had been efficiently intercepted by India’s air defence programs. Explosions had been reported in Udhampur, Jammu and Kashmir, the place Pakistani drones had been intercepted. Similar situations occurred in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, the place residents reported loud blasts and flashes of sunshine within the sky.
As a security measure, blackouts had been enforced throughout a number of areas, together with Bikaner (Rajasthan), Jalandhar and Amritsar (Punjab), and Kishtwar, Akhnoor, Samba, and Jammu within the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.These developments comply with Indiaβs current launch of Operation Sindoor, a precision navy response to the April 22 terror assault in Pahalgam, which claimed 28 civilian lives.