Fragile ceasefire holds between India, Pakistan as Trump offers more help
A ceasefire between India and Pakistan was holding on Sunday after both sides blamed the other for initial violations, as U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to help the arch-rivals find a solution on the disputed Kashmir region.
The truce that took effect on Saturday followed four days of intense fighting between the nuclear-armed neighbours. In the worst fighting in nearly three decades, they fired missiles and drones at each other’s military installations, killing almost 70 people.
Diplomacy and pressure from the United States helped secure the ceasefire deal, but within hours of its coming into force, artillery fire was witnessed in Indian Kashmir, the centre of much of last week’s fighting.
Blasts from air-defence systems boomed in cities near the border under a blackout, similar to those heard during the previous two evenings, according to local authorities, residents and Reuters witnesses.
Late on Saturday, India said Pakistan had violated the ceasefire. Pakistan said it was committed to the agreement and blamed India for the violations.
The fighting and explosions died down by dawn, according to Reuters witnesses, and power was restored in most border areas in India after a blackout on Saturday night.
India’s army chief on Sunday granted “full authority” to army commanders for “counteraction in the kinetic domain” to any violation of the “understanding” between the countries, the army said in a statement.
Trump praised the leaders of both countries for agreeing to halt the aggression and said he would “substantially” increase trade with them.
“I will work with you both to see if … a solution can be arrived at concerning Kashmir,” Trump added in a post on his Truth Social platform.
Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan each rule a part of Kashmir but claim it in full, and have twice gone to war over the Himalayan region.
India blames Pakistan for an insurgency in its part of the territory, but Pakistan says it provides only moral, political and diplomatic support to Kashmiri separatists.
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry welcomed Trump’s statement and added that “any just and lasting settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute … must ensure the realisation of the fundamental rights of the Kashmiri people, including their inalienable right to self-determination”.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in a post on the X platform that he was “extremely grateful” to Trump for his “most valuable offer to play a greater role in bringing lasting peace to South Asia”.
Picking up the Pieces
Among those most affected by the fighting were residents in border areas on either side, many of whom fled their homes when the fighting began on Wednesday, two weeks after a deadly attack in Indian Kashmir’s Pahalgam that India said was backed by Islamabad.
Pakistan denied the accusation.
In the Indian border city of Amritsar, home to the Golden Temple revered by Sikhs, people returned to the streets on Sunday morning after a siren sounded to signal a return to normal activities following the tension of recent days.
“Ever since the terrorists attacked people in Pahalgam, we have been shutting our shops very early and there was an uncertainty. I am happy that at least there will be no bloodshed on both sides,” said Satvir Singh Alhuwalia, 48, a shopkeeper in the city.
In some border areas, however, people were asked not to return home just yet. In the Indian Kashmir city of Baramulla, authorities warned residents to stay away due to the threat posed by unexploded munitions.
“People here are hosting us well but just as a bird feels at peace in its own nest, we also feel comfortable only in our own homes, even if they have been damaged,” said Azam Chaudhry, 55, who fled his home in the Pakistani town of Khuiratta and has now been told to wait until Monday before returning.
In Indian Kashmir’s Uri, a key power plant that was damaged in a Pakistani drone attack is still under repair.
“The project has suffered minor damage … We have stopped generation as the transmission line has been damaged,” said an official from state-run NHPC, India’s biggest hydropower company, who did not want to be identified.
Even with the ceasefire in effect, the Indian Air Force said in a midday post on X that operations were ongoing. The air force’s description of operations in such situations includes active monitoring, assessment and state of readiness.
Pakistani officials said there had been some firing in Pakistani Kashmir’s Bhimber overnight but nowhere else, and that there were no casualties.
Source: Reuters
–Agencies