Guwahati, May 12 -- Farah N. Jan, University of Pennsylvania

India and Pakistan have seen the scenario play out before: a terror attack in which Indians are killed leads to a succession of escalatory tit-fot-tat measures that put South Asia on the brink of all-out war. And then there is a de-escalation.

The broad contours of that pattern have played out in the most recent crisis, with the latest step being the announcement of a ceasefire on May 10, 2025.

But in another important way, the flare-up - which began on April 22 with a deadly attack in Indian-controlled Kashmir, in which 26 people were killed - represents significant departures from the past. It involved direct missile exchanges targeting sites inside both territories and the...