Pakistan on Thursday denied that the Indian Army had carried out "surgical strikes on terror launchpads" along the LoC the previous night, soon after Indian Army's Director General of Military Operations Ranbir Singh announced the strikes at a joint press conference of the ministries of defence and external affairs. Pakistan said there was nothing but cross-border firing, calling it an "existential phenomenon".

"This quest by the Indian establishment to create media hype by rebranding cross-border fire as surgical strike is fabrication of truth," the Pakistani military said in a statement, adding that they would respond "strongly" had there been a "surgical strike on Pakistani soil".

The country's Inter-Services Public Relations also said that Pakistan "has made it clear that if there is a surgical strike on Pakistani soil, there will be a strong response," ANI reported. The Pakistan media said its Air Force has said that it is "ready for any eventuality".

Pakistan's Foreign Office rejected the "baseless Indian claim" of having carried out the surgical strikes, accusing India of deliberately worsening tension along the LoC to divert attention from Jammu and Kashmir. "Such falsified, concocted and irresponsible statements can only escalate the already fragile security situation in the region, especially in the wake of the Indian brutalities and war crimes in the Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir," a statement from the office said.

Local media quoted Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif as saying that he strongly condemned the "unprovoked and naked aggression of Indian forces". Two Pakistani soldiers were killed along the LoC in the attack.

On Wednesday, Iran fired three mortar shells into Balochistan province of Pakistan, PTI reported. “Mortar shells fired by Iranian border guards landed in the district of Panjgoor,” a provincial government official told the news agency. No loss of human life or property was reported in the incident.