Tense Calm as India and Pakistan Announce Ceasefire

New Delhi – Nuclear armed neighbours India and Pakistan announced a ceasefire on Saturday following intense diplomatic pressure from the United States, temporarily halting a conflict that had escalated rapidly and raised global concerns of a possible full-scale war.

The sudden agreement marked a pause in what had been the worst fighting between the two rivals in nearly three decades.

However, within hours of the announcement, renewed hostilities were reported in key urban centres of Indian-administered Kashmir.

Blasts were heard in both Srinagar and Jammu late Saturday, with witnesses describing the sound of explosions and the sight of projectiles lighting up the night sky—eerily similar to scenes from the previous evening.

Local authorities and residents confirmed the reports, though military officials from both countries declined to immediately comment.

The ceasefire, though welcomed internationally, appeared fragile. The recent surge in violence had pushed the two countries dangerously close to open war, drawing alarm over the possible involvement of nuclear weapons.

Earlier this week, Pakistan’s military said that its top command overseeing the country’s nuclear arsenal was preparing to meet, prompting global anxiety. However, Pakistan’s Defence Minister later clarified that no such meeting was planned.

The violence over the past four days saw both armies target each other’s military installations, resulting in a rising toll of civilian casualties. According to local sources, at least 66 people have been killed on both sides of the Line of Control, which divides Kashmir between the two nations.

Kashmir, claimed in full by both India and Pakistan, remains the most sensitive flashpoint in the decades-long rivalry between the South Asian neighbours. Each country controls parts of the region, and the heavily militarised border has frequently been the site of deadly exchanges.

International stakeholders, particularly the United States, are understood to have played a key role in brokering the ceasefire through backchannel diplomacy. While both governments have yet to provide detailed statements on the terms of the agreement, sources indicate that the truce was reached following urgent interventions aimed at preventing further escalation.

Despite the announcement, tensions remain high. Observers warn that without a sustained political dialogue and mechanisms for accountability, the ceasefire may not hold.

As of Sunday morning, residents in Kashmir remained on edge, with many fearing a return to violence. The international community has called for restraint and renewed dialogue to prevent further bloodshed in one of the world’s most volatile regions.

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, India’s top diplomat, said the two military chiefs would speak to each other again on May 12.

On Wednesday, India had attacked what it said was “terrorist infrastructure” in Pakistani Kashmir and Pakistan, two weeks after 26 people were killed in an attack on Hindu tourists in Indian Kashmir.

Pakistan denied India’s accusations that it was involved in the attack. Days of cross-border fire, shelling and drone and missile attacks followed.

Despite the truce, two Indian government sources told Reuters that the punitive measures announced by India and reciprocated by Pakistan, such as trade suspension and visa cancellations, would remain in place for now.

The sources also said the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, a critical water-sharing pact that India suspended after the Kashmir attack, would remain in abeyance.

The Indian foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that he and Vice President JD Vance had engaged with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pakistan’s Shehbaz Sharif, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Pakistan’s army chief Asim Munir, and the two national security advisors over the course of 48 hours.

TALKS TO FOLLOW AT NEUTRAL VENUE

In a post on X, Rubio commended Modi and Sharif on the agreement, which he said included not only an immediate ceasefire but also the start of talks on “a broad set of issues at a neutral site”.

Jaishankar said India had consistently maintained a firm and “uncompromising stance against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations” and would continue to do so.

News of the ceasefire was greeted with relief on both sides of the border and Pakistan’s airports authority said its airspace had been fully reopened.

Omar Abdullah, chief minister of Indian Kashmir, which bore the brunt of the fighting, welcomed the truce but added: “If it had happened 2-3 days ago, the lives we lost would not have been lost.”

Pakistani news channels showed tanks returning from the border.

“Both Pakistan and India need to lift their large populations on virtually every measure of socio-economic development,” said Ehsan Malik, CEO of the Pakistan Business Council. “We are happy that a ceasefire will help both governments to focus on this priority.”

Shuja Nawaz, distinguished fellow at the Atlantic Council’s South Asia Center, said the Indus treaty would figure prominently in the impending talks “after a decent interval, which allows both governments to claim credit for what they’ve achieved until now”.

India and Pakistan have been locked in a dispute over Kashmir ever since they were born at the end of British colonial rule in 1947. Hindu-majority India and Muslim Pakistan both rule parts of Kashmir but claim it in full.

They have gone to war three times, including twice over Kashmir, alongside numerous smaller outbreaks of fighting.

India blames Pakistan for an insurgency in its part of Kashmir that began in 1989 and has killed tens of thousands. It also blames Pakistani Islamist militant groups for attacks elsewhere in India.

Pakistan rejects both charges. It says it only provides moral, political and diplomatic support to Kashmiri separatists.

Source: Reuters