Pakistan denies India’s ceasefire violation accusations

The ceasefire, announced on Saturday, followed four days of intense fighting between the nuclear-armed neighbours

India’s military sent a “hotline message” to Pakistan on Sunday about violations of a ceasefire agreed days earlier and informed it of New Delhi’s intent to respond if it was repeated, a top Indian army officer said.

India’s Director General of Military Operations Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai was speaking as a fragile ceasefire appeared to be holding after both sides blamed the other for initial violations on Saturday night.

A spokesman for Pakistan’s military denied the allegations. “No violation is being made by the Pakistan army or armed forces of the ceasefire,” the spokesman said during a press conference with representation from the country’s air force and navy.

The truce announced 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 when it seemed that the conflict was spiralling alarmingly. 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 eyewitnesses.

“Sometimes, these understandings take time to fructify, manifest on the ground,” Ghai told a media briefing on Sunday, referring to the truce. “The [Indian] armed forces were on a very very high alert [yesterday] and continue to be in that state.”

The Indian army chief had given a mandate to its commanders to deal with “violations of any kind” from across the borders in the best way they deem fit, Ghai added.

He said his Pakistani counterpart called him on Saturday afternoon and proposed the two countries “cease hostilities” and urgently requested a ceasefire.

Following India’s request for a call after carrying out military attacks in Pakistan between May 6 and 7, and on the intervention of international interlocutors, Pakistan responded on Saturday to the earlier made request, said Pakistan’s military spokesman.

Late on Saturday, the Pakistani foreign ministry had said it was committed to the truce agreement and blamed India for the violations.

US President Donald Trump announced the ceasefire on Saturday, saying it was reached after talks mediated by Washington.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said India and Pakistan had also agreed to start talks on “a broad set of issues at a neutral site”.

While Islamabad has thanked Washington for facilitating the ceasefire and welcomed Trump’s offer to mediate on the Kashmir dispute with India, Delhi has not commented on US involvement in the truce or talks at a neutral site.

India maintains that disputes with Pakistan have to be resolved directly by the two countries and rejects any third party involvement.

On Sunday, Trump praised the leaders of both countries for agreeing to halt the aggression and said he would “substantially” increase trade with them.

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.

Among those most affected by the fighting were residents on either side of the border, 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 Kashmiri 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.