At an informal lunch in Pakistan in December 2008, US Senator John McCain warned Pakistan PM Yousuf Raza Gilani of an Indian air strike if they failed to act swiftly in the case, adding that this was PM Manmohan Singh's message, relayed via him.

Later that month, Pakistan resorted to deploying fighter jets over several major cities as a pre-emptive measure as tensions escalated. India reciprocated by deploying aircraft along the western border.

On 24 December, PK Barbora, the air officer commanding-in-chief of Western Air Command said the IAF had "earmarked 5,000 targets in Pakistan." However, a day later, PM Manmohan Singh, at a top-level security meeting made it clear that "nobody wanted war."