India and Pakistan yesterday confirmed a ceasefire deal after US-led talks to end a conflict between the nuclear-armed rivals following missile and drone attacks on each other’s military bases.
The two have been locked in hostilities after a gun massacre last month that India has blamed Pakistan for.
US President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire had been brokered between the two countries.
Photo: AFP
“After a long night of talks mediated by the United States, I am pleased to announce that India and Pakistan have agreed to a FULL AND IMMEDIATE CEASEFIRE,” Trump wrote on social media, praising the two countries for “using Common Sense and Great Intelligence.”
India and Pakistan both confirmed that a ceasefire agreement had been reached.
Pakistani Minister of Foreign Affairs Ishaq Dar earlier said his country would consider de-escalation if India stopped further attacks.
However, he warned that if India launched any strikes, “our response will follow.”
Dar told Pakistan’s Geo News that he also conveyed this message to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who contacted him after Rubio spoke with New Delhi earlier.
“We responded because our patience had reached its limit. If they stop here, we will also consider stopping,” Dar added.
India said it targeted Pakistani air bases after Islamabad fired several missiles at military and civilian infrastructure in the country’s Punjab state early yesterday.
Pakistan earlier said it intercepted most missiles and that retaliatory strikes on India were under way.
Rubio spoke to Indian Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and emphasized that “both sides need to identify methods to de-escalate and re-establish direct communication to avoid miscalculation,” US Department of State spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said yesterday, and offered US support to facilitate “productive discussion.”
Indian Colonel Sofiya Qureshi at a news conference in New Delhi said Pakistan targeted health facilities and schools at its three air bases in Indian-controled Kashmir.
“Befitting reply has been given to Pakistani actions,” she said.
Indian Air Force Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, also at the news conference, said India was committed to “non-escalation” provided that Pakistan reciprocated.
However, Pakistani ground forces were observed mobilizing toward forward areas, she said, “indicating an offensive intent to further escalate the situation.”
“Indian armed forces remain in a high state of operational readiness,” she added.
Singh said Indian armed forces carried out “precision strikes only at identified military targets in response to Pakistani actions,” which included technical infrastructure, command and control centers, radar sites and weapon storage areas to ensure “minimum collateral damage.”
“All hostile actions have been effectively countered and responded to appropriately,” Singh said.
The Pakistani military said it used medium-range Fateh missiles to target an Indian missile storage facility and air bases in the cities of Pathankot and Udhampur.
The Associated Press could not independently verify all the actions attributed to Pakistan or India.
State-run Pakistan Television had reported that Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif convened a meeting of the National Command Authority, which oversees the country’s missile program and other strategic assets.
Indian missiles yesterday targeted Nur Khan air base in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, near the capital, Islamabad, Murid air base in Chakwal city and Rafiqui air base in the Jhang district of eastern Punjab province, a Pakistani military spokesman said.
There were no immediate reports of the strike or its aftermath from residents in the densely populated Rawalpindi.
Following the announcement of Pakistani retaliation, residents in Indian-controled Kashmir said they heard loud explosions at multiple places in the region, including the two big cities of Srinagar and Jammu, and the garrison town of Udhampur.
“Explosions that we are hearing today are different from the ones we heard the last two nights during drone attacks,” said Shesh Paul Vaid, the region’s former top police official and Jammu resident. “It looks like a war here.”
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