India launches missiles into Pakistan-controlled territory

0:06Hi, I'm Suze Cooper and welcome back to The Standard Podcast. If you're new here, hit follow and give us a rating. Coming up. These are kids' books, beautiful images and quite lyrical language, but they do introduce some quite serious themes for kids. We'll be joined by James Ashton, co-founder of Oscars Book Prize, to hear about this year's winning story and the moving legacy behind the award.

0:36But first, fears of all-out war between two nuclear powers are rising after India fired missiles into Pakistan-controlled territory. India claims it targeted what it calls terrorist infrastructure linked to militants accused of carrying out last month's massacre of tourists in Indian-controlled Kashmir, Pakistan's calling it an act of war. Well, with me now is the London Standards reporter Jacob Phillips. Jacob, can you start by telling us what's happened between India and Pakistan? Well, at least 26 people, including at least one child, have been killed and dozens wounded after India fired missiles across the border into Pakistan and Pakistani administered Kashmir.

1:18It's been quite an escalation overnight or in the early hours of Wednesday morning. and yes, so far we're hearing that at least nine sites were hit according to the Indian Defence Ministry while Pakistan has said that six locations were hit. It's quite a shocking turn of events. On top of that, officials have said another 38 people were injured by the strikes and another five people were also killed in exchanges of fire across the border later in the day as well. So what information do we have about what's being targeted and where? We haven't had a full picture of what's happened and which locations have been hit yet.

1:55But we do know that in Masafabad, which is the main city of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, residents heard several explosions, some blasts ripping through houses, saw people running in panic. Yes, and you've had Indian jets have also damaged infrastructure at a dam in a similar area, according to the Pakistan's military spokesman. The strikes also hit close to at least two sites previously tied to militant groups that have been banned, according to Pakistan. And one of these strikes hit the Subhan Mosque in Punjab's Valhallapur city, which killed 13 people, according to a doctor nearby. The mosque is near a seminary that was once the central office of a militant group that was outlawed in 2002.

2:40So it seems that that might have been a target. Another missile also hit a mosque in Punjab, damaging it. Yeah, so plenty of attacks across the area. Do we know what's prompted this to happen now? Well, there's been an escalation in tensions recently between the two neighbours, who both are armed with nuclear weapons, since the attack in April, where gunmen killed 26 people who were mostly Indian Hindu tourists on the Indian side of Kashmir. And in some very sad cases, men were killed before their wives' eyes. So India has accused Pakistan of being responsible for this particular attack and has claimed that it kind of took place by a militant group called the Kashmir Resistance.

3:22India said the group is linked to a disbanded Pakistani militant group. So that's really flared up tensions between the two countries. And in the wake of that massacre, they've both expelled each other's diplomats and nationals, closed their borders and shuttered airspaces. India has also surrendered a critical water sharing treaty with Pakistan. So it seems to be that India is saying that these attacks are in response. And in fact, they were targeting where terrorist attacks against India were being planned. So that seems to be the motivation behind these attacks or the reason given so far. I mean, there's historic tension between India and Pakistan, isn't there?

3:59So how serious is this latest development in light of those past tensions? We don't know at this stage, I suppose. But, you know, what's probably worth looking at is the language that is coming out of Pakistan. in response. So the Prime Minister has turned around and said that Pakistan has every right to give a robust response. It's labelled this as an act of war by India and his vow in again a strong response. So it's hard to know what this will mean, whether that's a war of words or whether there will immediately be a response. Pakistan's already claimed it's shot down several Indian fighter jets.

4:32After the attack, three planes fell onto villages in Indian-controlled territory. And there's been a heavy exchange of fire between both sides. But at least seven civilians were also killed in the region by Pakistani shelling. So it's definitely escalating. How far this will go will be interesting to see. So have we heard anything from the UN on this yet? Yeah, the UN have also spoken about this and said the world cannot afford a military confrontation between India and Pakistan. They're clearly concerned as well about what's going to happen and there's been a wide range of statements from both politicians inside India who've said they're extremely proud of what's happened and applauded this attack.

5:17And obviously there's been the opposite language from Pakistan. And what's the situation here in the UK? What's being said? Well, yeah, it looks like there will be some protests in London as well due to this issue. There's due to be a pro-Pakistan protest later today outside the Indian High Commission following this attack. And there have been a number of late arrivals into Hebrew airports from India today. We're not entirely sure if those are directly related to what has happened, but it would fit in with what's been going on at other airlines who've been diverting routes away from the two countries and from where this area of conflict is emerging.

5:55It's worth noting that the Foreign Office has updated quite a lot of its advice overnight. So people traveling in India and Pakistan have been told to stay away. sort of around 10 miles from the line of control, which is the sort of de facto border that divides Kashmir, which is in between, sort of claimed by both India and Pakistan in the north of the countries. And yeah, the foreign officer has also said to stay away from travelling within 10 kilometres off the India-Pakistan border in general. We've had some sort of words from the media around this morning about this. The Trade Secretary has described being hugely worried by this escalation and said the UK is ready to support both India and Pakistan and hoping to de-escalate tensions.

6:38Yeah, he said that our message as the UK would be that we are a friend and a partner to both countries and stand ready to support them. There's obviously a huge interest in stability in the area and everyone will be hoping for this to calm back down. Thanks, Jacob. For the latest on that story, head to standard.co.uk.

7:01Let's go to a break. Coming up in part two, we'll find out which beautifully illustrated picture book took home this year's Oscars Book Prize. We'll see you back here in just a moment.

7:20Welcome back. A tenderly, beautifully spun story. That's how one of the judges described this year's winner of Oscars Book Prize. Just the Two of Us by Polly Noakes, a moving picture book about a girl and her imaginary friend, took home the£10 ,000 prize at a star-studded ceremony in London last night. Now in its 12th year, the award was created in memory of Oscar Ashton, who died of an undiagnosed heart condition aged three and a half. The prize has since become a celebrated fixture in the children's publishing world, and at its heart is the joy of sharing stories. Well, joining me now is Oscar's dad, James Ashton, co-founder of the prize.

7:59James, what happened at last night's event and what made it so special? Yeah, last night we had our wonderful annual awards event. We celebrated the best of UK picture books. We had six shortlisted books present in the room, all the authors, all the illustrators. And when we talk about picture books, we're in Gruffalo territory, if that's a helpful description. And we announced our winner and our winner wins a prize of£10 ,000. and the accolade of all of their peers. And we hope a bump in sales and we hope it's a title that parents see and think, I really must spend just a little bit more time, you know, sharing a book like this with my young children.

8:34Our winner was a title called Just the Two of Us. It's by a wonderful author-illustrator called Polly Noakes. She's been in the industry for quite a while. She's written some of her own books. She's illustrated with lots of other people. And she is based in North Yorkshire and came down to London last night to the Ivy Club. and we were thrilled that she became our 12th winner. So tell us a little bit about Just the Two of Us then. What's it about? This covers that difficult challenge in life. What do you do when you don't need your imaginary friend anymore? It's about love, loss, longing, and of course there's some reconciliation in the end.

9:11These are kids' books, beautiful images and quite lyrical language, but they do introduce some quite serious themes for kids. Well, I think it's fair to say that our kids are surrounded by digital tech these days. What does a great picture book still offer that nothing else can? I think there's a calmness to it. I'm on my phone all day long, but I still love to read an actual physical book at night. I think it treats your brain in a different way. So I think actually there is the act of turning the page. You know, what comes next? I think there's a lot of evidence that says this is how young children's creativity and curiosity is encouraged and developed.

9:51And I think the way we talk about it, we think it's also a great sharing experience. I think also there is a real skill to how the words and the pictures come together. These are not long books, but the way that the words work their magic. So I think they will always have a place. Of course, people use the iPad as the electronic babysitter. Everyone does it. but I think a book unlocks the brain in a different way and is that shared experience. Finding the right people to judge the prize must be quite a task. Who did you have on this year's judging panel? Yeah, we look for a mix of celebrities and people who work in this field.

10:25So Ben Cagey, who's the CBeebies presenter, was one of our judges. Imogen Russell-Williams, The Guardian, and a great book reviewer. Smriti Halls, who is an author who's been in Kids in Picture Books for a long time. Zach Watts from our sponsor Amazon, his UK country books manager. And also my wife, Vivica, who's judged every year. And we always want to make sure this prize is connected back to Oscar. Yes. Tell us about the background to Oscar's book prize and how the event has come about. Yeah, of course. So Oscar was our son. We lost him in 2012 and he was only three and a half. And we thought long and hard about what, if anything, we wanted to do as a legacy and a sense of remembrance.

11:06And it felt quite natural and quite a good idea to take something forward that was book related. It was something we loved to do with him to share books at bedtime and so on. And at the time, I was working at The Standard. I was city editor. And so we put together a prize. I was aware of prizes that had marked different things at university and so on. And this seemed like a good thing to do. We didn't want a book prize that had loads of categories, different age ranges. We just want to do picture books. We want to be the Booker Prize of picture books. And so initially we kicked off in 2014. The Standard have been a thread right through and been incredibly supportive and really helped with a platform to celebrate the prize in these books.

11:49Waitrose was a sponsor to begin with. Amazon has been a sponsor later on. I mean, 12 years on, how do you hope the prize will continue to grow? It's funny. There's a huge decision about going public and putting your son's name on something like this for year one. But then actually, the hard challenge is, can you get the machine working and do this every year? So, you know, year two, and then suddenly we're at year 12. We've had great buy-in from publishers, authors, illustrators, we think readers. And we've had some great judges and supporters along the way. I mean, at our event last night, Dr.

12:23Ranj opened the envelope. We had Anthea Turner, Helen Lederer. I mean, you know, lots of friends of the prize. And in previous years, we've had Claudia Winkleman, Lorraine Kelly, Dermot O 'Leary. So it helps to sprinkle a bit of celebrity dust on this as well. But we've also been really thrilled to have people like Francesca Simon, who was there last night from the Horrid Henry series. And also Lauren Child has judged for us, you know, several years ago. So we hope to still keep building the prize. And actually, if I can make a plea, we think we need a little bit more support to keep the show on the road.

12:57So if somebody is listening and wants to help a sponsor into year 13, delighted to hear from them. And that's The Standard. For all the latest news, head to standard.co.uk and please do drop us a line at podcasts at standard.co.uk. This podcast returns tomorrow at 4pm. We'll see you then.

13:27Thank you.