The latest on India-Pakistan tensions

11am

Pakistani police say troops deployed in Pakistani Kashmir continued trading fire with India, forcing villagers living near the LOC to move to safer places even as the two nuclear-armed nations appear to be stepping back from the brink.

11.15am

Authorities in Pakistani Kashmir have closed all schools and educational institutions in the region and are urging parents of the children to keep their kids at home amid mounting tension with neighbouring India.

11.40am

Members of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling party (BJP) have called for more military action against Pakistan as tensions dramatically escalated this week between the two nuclear-armed neighbours after the terrort attack in Indian Kashmir.

1pm

India’s prime minister says his country’s enemies are conspiring to create instability through terror attacks. The remarks by Prime Minister Narendra Modi come amid tensions with Pakistan following the areal skirmish between the two countries in the both sides of Kashmir.

2.20pm

Pakistan’s foreign ministry says India has handed over its file on the deadly Kashmir bombing, a sign of easing tensions between the two rivals. The Feb. 14 suicide bombing targeted Indian paramilitary forces in the Indian Kashmir, killing 40 troops

2.45pm

Pakistan’s foreign minister says a top Saudi diplomat is coming to Islamabad later in the day on Thursday to deliver an important message from the Saudi crown prince amid the Pakistan-India standoff.

2.55pm

China says it’s in close communication with both India and Pakistan in hopes of promoting a de-escalation of their current standoff. Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang says China hopes “the two countries can meet each other halfway and resolve this issue via dialogue.”

4.25pm

Prime minister Imran Khan says Pakistan will release the captured Indian pilot as a “peace gesture”. Khan made this announcement while addressing lawmakers convened to discuss the latest situation on the border

5.20pm

Fresh fighting has erupted between Indian and Pakistani soldiers along the Line of Control that divides Kashmir between the two nuclear-armed rivals. India’s army says Pakistani soldiers are targeting nearly two dozen Indian forward points

6.05pm

India is welcoming Pakistan decision to free a pilot whose Mig-21 fighter was shot down during an aerial skirmish between the air forces of the two countries. An Indian air force spokesman says the Indian air force “is extremely happy and looks forward to the return of the Indian pilot”

6.30pm

Cambodia called on Pakistan and India to exercise utmost restraint. “Cambodia follows with concern the recent escalation of tensions between India and Pakistan in the Kashmir region,” the country’s foreign ministry said

7.10pm

Turkish officials say prime minister Imran Khan has called President Recep Tayyip Erdogan amid his country’s standoff with India. The two discussed the tensions between Pakistan and India during telephone conversation