Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was set to address the nation yesterday for the first time since a weekend ceasefire with Pakistan that brought the nuclear-armed rivals back from the brink of all-out war.
Modi’s office said the television address would start at 8pm. US President Donald Trump announced the truce late on Saturday after four days of missile, drone and artillery attacks that killed at least 60 people and sent thousands fleeing on both sides.
The heads of military operations of India and Pakistan were also set to review the truce later yesterday.
Photo: EPA-EFE
It comes after the Indian army reported the “first calm night in recent days” in Kashmir and along its western border with Pakistan.
Initially the conversation had been due to take place at midday, but Indian officials said it had been delayed to the evening.
Abdul Basit at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore said it would be about modalities of the ceasefire and not policy decisions.
The aim is to “avoid any miscalculations, because right now one spark could quickly move towards a nuclear catastrophe,” Basit said.
The flare-up in violence was the worst since the rivals’ last open conflict in 1999 and sparked global shudders that it could spiral into full-blown war.
There were initial doubts as the rivals accused each other of breaching the ceasefire just hours after it was unexpectedly announced by Trump on social media.
“The night remained largely peaceful across ... Kashmir and other areas along the international border,” the Indian army said.
“No incidents have been reported, marking the first calm night in recent days,” the statement added.
India yesterday reopened 32 airports that had been closed due to the conflict, authorities said.
Top Indian and Pakistani military officials held briefings late on Sunday, with each claiming the upper hand and warning they were ready to respond if there were fresh attacks.
“We have delivered the promise we made to our people,” Pakistani military spokesman Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said, calling it a “success on the battleground.”
“We re-established deterrence and neutralized key threats,” Pakistani Air Vice Marshal Ahmed Aurangzeb told reporters. “We have thus far exercised immense restraint ... and our actions have been focused, measured and non-escalatory,” Indian Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai said.
“Any threat to the sovereignty, territorial integrity and safety of our citizens will be met with decisive force,” he added.
It was also the second straight night without gunfire or shelling at Poonch, a frontier town in the part of divided Kashmir administered by India.
Poonch was one of the worst-hit places in India, with at least 12 residents killed and most of the estimated 60,000 residents fleeing their homes. On Sunday, people started trickling back, although many were still jittery about the ceasefire.
Thousands of schools remained closed across Pakistan-administered Kashmir as areas were cleared of debris from strikes and firing, local official Naveed-Ul-Hassan Bukhari said.
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