The Indian government ordered the officials to carry out civil defense exercises in large parts of the country on Wednesday, as they are preparing for a potential military conflict with Pakistan, its neighbor and arch -rival.
The tensions between the nuclear armed countries that have waged several wars have escalated since April 22, when armed men killed 26 people in the part of the Kashmir region controlled by India who claim both countries. India accuses Pakistan of being involved in the terrorist attack that Pakistan denies.
India has been committed to carrying out military strikes on what terrorists in Pakistan describes as ports. Pakistan has promised to react to non -benefits to military actions in India.
In the past few days, the exchange of small weapons fire has broken out along the border of the countries, and a variety of activities in Neu-Delhi have suggested that an Indian strike was imminent. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has repeatedly met with his military leaders, and his officials have continued to speak to the public about taking measures against Pakistan.
In a letter that was sent to all states and areas of the country on Monday, India’s Interior Ministry ordered exercises to assess the willingness of the public according to conflicts. In 244 districts – identified as a civil protection districts because they are near the border or on the coast or due to other perceived weaknesses – all villages will be necessary to carry out exercises, the letter says.
In the letter, the copy of which was seen by the New York Times, the exercises said to instruct the testing of air raid sirens and the instructions of civilians how to control power outages and carry out evacuations.
Similar exercises have been carried out near the border in the last few days, especially in Kashmir, where videos have shown that school children were guided through ducks and cover exercises, and people who are used to use bunkers that are to be used for air strikes.