India and Pakistan engaged in the most intense fighting in decades with four days of escalating conflict that included fighter jets, missiles and drones packed with explosives. It ended almost as abruptly as it began. <\/p>\n
New details reveal how a flurry of phone calls and diplomacy ultimately brought about a truce between the nuclear-armed neighbors and historic foes. <\/p>\n
And while the Indian and Pakistani accounts differ on some details, both sides agree the breakthrough started to come on Saturday afternoon. <\/p>\n
The ceasefire between Islamabad and New Delhi that according to Pakistani officials had been in the works for several days, was agreed to after a \u201chotline\u201d message was sent from a top Pakistani military official to his Indian counterpart, India\u2019s military said Sunday, offering new details about how the unexpected deal was struck. <\/p>\n
In a briefing Sunday, India\u2019s director general of military operations said that as officials were huddling Saturday \u201cto wargame\u201d the early morning\u2019s strikes from Pakistan, he received a message from his counterpart in Pakistan seeking communications. <\/p>\n
During a call, held at 3:35 p.m. local time, a ceasefire agreement was reached, according to India\u2019s director general of military operations, Lt Gen Rajiv Ghai. He said a further call would be held to \u201cdiscuss the modalities that would enable the longevity\u201d of the agreement. Pakistan has not confirmed whether or not a call was held, but the official involved in the diplomatic efforts said Pakistan had received unspecified \u201cassurances\u201d from the US that India would abide by the ceasefire. <\/p>\n
The latest details of how the agreement was reached, which was first announced by US President Donald Trump, give the clearest picture yet of how Islamabad and New Delhi directly communicated to agree on an end to the spiraling conflict amid growing international pressure. <\/p>\n
On his Truth Social, Trump said Saturday the US had brokered an end to the fighting and congratulated the leaders of both countries for \u201cusing common sense and great intelligence.\u201d While Islamabad praised US involvement, New Delhi has downplayed it \u2013 keen to portray the ceasefire as a victory and saying that the neighbors had worked together \u201cdirectly\u201d on the truce. <\/p>\n
India\u2019s director general of military operations, Ghai, said India approached Islamabad on Wednesday following its initial strikes to \u201ccommunicate our compulsions to strike at the heart of terror.\u201d <\/p>\n
India made a request \u2013 which was not specified – that was \u201cbrusquely turned down with an intimation that a severe response was inevitable and in the offing,\u201d Ghai told reporters. The Pakistani military said that it was approached by India earlier in the week regarding a ceasefire. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe Indians requested a ceasefire after the 8th and 9th of May after they started their operation. We told them we will communicate back after our retribution,\u201d Pakistan\u2019s Major General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said during a news conference on Sunday. After Pakistan\u2019s military operation, \u201cwe reached the international interlocutors and we responded to the ceasefire request,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Speaking on Wednesday, after India\u2019s initial strikes, a Pakistani official involved in diplomacy efforts said Pakistan was engaged with the US and that he hoped those conversations would bring positive results. <\/p>\n
He said Pakistan was going to give diplomacy a chance and hold off on retaliation as the US and others tried diplomacy \u2013 though India claimed Pakistan repeatedly fired drones and artillery into its territory, something Islamabad has strenuously denied. <\/p>\n
The Pakistani official said they were shocked when India attacked several Pakistani airbases early Saturday morning as they thought diplomacy was still in play. Pakistan immediately struck back, he said, harder than they had previously planned. <\/p>\n
Pakistan\u2019s military called the strikes on multiple Indian military bases an \u201ceye for eye\u201d and saying they targeted the Indian air bases used to launch missiles on Pakistan. <\/p>\n
The escalatory strikes from both sides forced the existing diplomatic efforts into a high gear \u2013 including by the United States, China and Saudi Arabia – to broker an end to the fighting. <\/p>\n
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement that he and Vice President JD Vance had spoken to the political and military leadership in India and Pakistan to secure agreement before the situation deteriorated further. <\/p>\n
Vance had pressed India\u2019s Prime Minister Narendra Modi to find a potential \u201coff-ramp\u201d to escalating tensions, according to multiple sources at India\u2019s foreign ministry. Modi listened, but did not commit, the sources said. <\/p>\n
China\u2019s foreign minister Wang Yi also spoke separately to top officials in India and Pakistan and expressed Beijing\u2019s support for a ceasefire, according to readouts from China\u2019s foreign ministry. <\/p>\n
Just before 8 a.m. ET on Saturday, about 5 p.m. in India and Pakistan, Trump announced the ceasefire on Truth Social, writing: \u201cAfter 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.\u201d <\/p>\n
Shortly after Trump\u2019s post, both sides confirmed the truce. <\/p>\n
India\u2019s Foreign Ministry said the agreement was worked out \u201cdirectly between the two countries,\u201d downplaying US involvement and contradicting Trump\u2019s claim. <\/p>\n
But Pakistani officials heaped praise on Washington. \u201cWe thank President Trump for his leadership and proactive role for peace in the region,\u201d said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s not surprising these bitter rivals give contradictory accounts of how a deal was struck. <\/p>\n
India, which views itself as a regional superpower, has long been resistant to international mediation, whereas Pakistan, which is heavily dependent on foreign aid, tends to welcome it, analysts say. <\/p>\n
The Indian military\u2019s latest account of what happened raises further questions as to what exactly was Washington\u2019s role in brokering the truce. <\/p>\n
For India and Pakistan, the truce \u2013 which largely appears to be holding despite early accusations of each other violating the agreement \u2013 has brought much needed relief to both sides. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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