Pakistan reported that it has shot down two Indian Air Force jets and captured their pilots in a major heightened Kashmir conflict.
India has confirmed the loss of one MiG21 fighter and said its pilot was missing in action.
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan called for a “responsible” approach. “The weapons they have and we have, can we afford a miscalculation?” he said.
Both India and Pakistan claim all of Kashmir, but control only parts of it.
The nuclear powers have fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947. All but one were over Kashmir.
The aerial attacks across the Line of Control (LoC) dividing Indian and Pakistani territory are the first since a war in 1971.
They follow a militant attack in Kashmir which killed 40 Indian troops – the deadliest to take place during a three-decade insurgency against Indian rule in Kashmir. A Pakistan-based group said it carried out the attack.
The BBC’s Soutik Biswas, in Delhi, says the challenge for India and Pakistan now is to contain the latest escalation before things get completely out of control.