India, May 8 -- Pakistan alone can decide whether there is a further escalation of tensions with India as New Delhi has only responded to the "original escalation" of the Pahalgam terror attack and will respond to further actions by Islamabad, foreign secretary Vikram Misri said on Thursday.

Addressing a briefing on Operation Sindoor hours after India acknowledged that its armed forces targeted air defence systems at several locations in Pakistan in response to Pakistani strikes on military targets at 15 sites in India, Misri said most countries have recognised the "barbaric nature" of the Pahalgam attack as well as the restrained, measured and non-escalatory nature of India's response.

"First of all, it is Pakistan that escalated on Ap...