Weeks later, on May 7, India launched Operation Sindoor and targeted terrorist camps in Pakistan. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif denied funding terrorists and claimed that the Operation Sindoor has claimed civilian lives in Pakistan.

India and Pakistan are fueling each other’s extremism without an off-ramp in sight. The conflict between India and Pakistan has just escalated faster than at any previous point since they both acquired nuclear weapons at the end of the 20th century. That may be because the two countries’ regimes have never been more alike.

The two nuclear powers will need to be able to claim a victory that allows them to save face and avoid a hot war, writes Michael Kugelman.