India, Pakistan ceasefire holds after early violations
By Bhuvan Bagga in Poonch with Arunabh Saikia
Poonch, India (AFP) May 11, 2025
A ceasefire appeared to hold on Sunday between India and Pakistan, hours after the nuclear-armed rivals accused each other of violating a truce that brought them back from the brink of all-out war.
The ceasefire was agreed on Saturday after four days of missile, drone and artillery attacks which killed at least 60 people and sent thousands fleeing, in the worst violence since India and Pakistan’s last open conflict in 1999.
The “full and immediate” halt to hostilities was unexpectedly announced by US President Donald Trump on social media, who said that it followed a “long night of talks mediated by the United States”.
Early on Sunday India’s foreign secretary said that New Delhi had retaliated after Pakistan’s “repeated violations” of the truce.
Pakistan said it “remains committed” to the ceasefire and that its forces were handling violations by India with “responsibility and restraint”.
Residents of several villages along the Indian side of the Line of Control, the de-facto frontier of divided Kashmir, said heavy Pakistani shelling resumed hours after the ceasefire announcement.
Bairi Ram’s four-room house in the village of Kotmaira was reduced to rubble in shelling and three of his buffaloes were killed.
“Everything is finished,” he said.
– ‘Fragile peace’ –
But by later in the day a senior security official in Muzaffarabad in Pakistan administered-Kashmir said there were “intermittent exchanges of fire” but that situation was “quiet since the morning”.
Hazoor Sheikh, 46, who runs a store in the main market in the border town of Poonch, which was the worst-hit in India during the fighting, was one of the first to reopen his shop on Sunday.
“Finally, after days, we could sleep peacefully,” said Sheikh.
At least 12 Poonch residents were killed at most of the 60,000-strong population had fled in cars, on buses and even on foot.
On Sunday people were starting to come back, although some remained worried that the ceasefire would not last.
“Every time India has agreed to such an agreement, Pakistan has ended up violating it,” Poonch resident Hafiz Mohammad Shah Bukhari, 49, told AFP.
This was echoed on the other side by Kala Khan, who lives in Chakothi in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir and who hid with neighbours in a bunker.
“India is a deceitful neighbour. You can never trust it,” said Khan told AFP. “I have absolutely no faith in India; I believe it will strike again.”
Praveen Donthi, a senior analyst with the International Crisis Group, was also sceptical.
“Things are going to remain hostile. Things are going to be difficult,” he said.
Pro-military rallies were held in cities across Pakistan on Sunday, with the country’s green and white flag draped from buildings and cars.
– ‘Terrorist camps’ –
The alarming spiral towards all-out conflict began before dawn on Wednesday, when India launched missile attacks destroying what it called “terrorist camps”.
This followed an attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir on April 22 that killed 26 people and which India accused Pakistan of backing.
Pakistan firmly denied any involvement and called for an independent investigation.
Islamabad immediately responded to the strikes with heavy artillery fire and claimed to have downed five fighter jets — something India has not commented on — before it said it launched its own strikes on Indian cities on Saturday.
Militants have stepped up operations in Kashmir since 2019, when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government revoked the region’s limited autonomy and took it under direct rule from New Delhi.
Divided Muslim-majority Kashmir is claimed in full by both countries, who have fought several wars over the territory since their independence from Britain in 1947.
– ‘Positive step’ –
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on X that his country — which has long sought international mediation in Kashmir — “appreciates” the US intervention.
India has consistently opposed mediation, however, and observers were sceptical of the truce.
News of the ceasefire was met with relief from countries including Britain and Iran, as well as the United Nations.
China, which borders India and Pakistan, said it was “willing to continue playing a constructive role” and remained concerned with any escalation, according to state-run news agency Xinhua.
“The days ahead will be critical to see whether the ceasefire holds and gives way to relative normalcy,” read an editorial in Dawn, Pakistan’s leading English language newspaper.
“While foreign friends can certainly help create a conducive atmosphere, it is Islamabad and New Delhi that will have to do the heavy lifting themselves to secure peace.”
India, Pakistan reach ceasefire — but trade claims of violations
Islamabad (AFP) May 11, 2025 -
India and Pakistan traded accusations of ceasefire violations early Sunday, hours after US President Donald Trump announced that the nuclear-armed neighbours had stepped back from the brink of full-blown war.
India’s foreign secretary said it retaliated after Pakistan’s “repeated violations” of the truce, while Pakistan said it “remains committed” to the ceasefire and that its forces were handling violations by India with “responsibility and restraint”.
AFP staff in Srinagar in Indian-administered Kashmir reported hearing loud explosions. A senior official in Pakistani-run Kashmir told AFP that “intermittent exchange of fire is ongoing” across the de facto border in the contested region, the Line of Control (LoC).
More details were not immediately available, and it was not possible to independently verify the claims.
On Saturday, Pakistan and India had agreed to a full and immediate ceasefire after days of deadly jet fighter, missile, drone and artillery attacks which killed at least 60 people and saw thousands flee their homes along the border as well as in divided Kashmir.
The news had been surprisingly announced by Trump on Saturday.
“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. Congratulations to both Countries on using Common Sense and Great Intelligence,” Trump posted.
Late Saturday, Trump posted again on Truth Social, praising the leaders of India and Pakistan for understanding that “it was time to stop the current aggression”, and also pledging to increase trade “substantially” with both nations.
The US president also said he would work with New Delhi and Islamabad to “see if, after a ‘thousand years,’ a solution can be arrived at concerning Kashmir”.
India’s foreign secretary Vikram Misri had said earlier that both sides would “stop all firing and military action on land, air and sea” with effect from 5:00 pm (1130 GMT).
He then accused Pakistan of “repeated violations” and said the Indian armed forces “are giving an adequate and appropriate response”.
Meanwhile, the foreign ministry in Islamabad said Pakistan “remains committed to faithful implementation” of the truce.
“Notwithstanding the violations being committed by India in some areas, our forces are handling the situation with responsibility and restraint,” it said.
– ‘Vigilant’ –
The conflict was touched off by an attack last month in the Indian-administered side of Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly male Hindu tourists, which New Delhi blamed on Islamabad.
India accused the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba — a UN-designated terrorist organisation — of carrying out the attack, but Islamabad has denied any involvement and called for an independent probe.
Indian former foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said Sunday that the ceasefire “seems to be a temporary situation.
“The Pakistanis were prompted by the Americans,” he said, adding that India’s “Operation Sindoor was a huge success in terms of targeted strikes against terrorists”.
Militants have stepped up operations in Kashmir since 2019, when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government revoked its limited autonomy and took the state under direct rule from New Delhi.
The countries have fought several wars over the territory, which both claim in full but administer separate portions of since gaining independence from British rule in 1947.
“The ceasefire is a positive step,” said Bilal Shabbir, an IT consultant in Muzaffarabad, in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
“In war, it’s not just soldiers who die, it’s mostly civilians — and in this case, it would have been the people of Kashmir.”
In Srinagar, resident Sukesh Khajuria was more cautious.
“The ceasefire is welcome, but it’s difficult to trust Pakistan. We have to be vigilant,” he said.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the ceasefire came after he and Vice President JD Vance engaged with senior officials on both sides.
Rubio also said on X that they had agreed to “start talks on a broad set of issues at a neutral site”.
On X, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said his country — which has long sought international mediation in Kashmir — “appreciates” the US intervention.
India has consistently opposed mediation, however, and observers were sceptical of the truce.
“The ceasefire was cobbled together hastily, and at a moment when tensions were at their highest,” US-based South Asia analyst Michael Kugelman wrote on X after the claims of violations.
“India appears to have interpreted the deal differently than did the US and Pakistan, and it’s likely not keen on the broader talks it calls for. Upholding it will pose challenges,” he warned.
News of the ceasefire was met with relief from countries including Britain and Iran, as well as the United Nations.
China, which borders India and Pakistan, said Beijing was “willing to continue playing a constructive role” and remained concerned with any escalation, according to state-run news agency Xinhua.
burs-st-ach/sco
Related Links
News From Across The Stans