ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar said on Thursday the militaries of India and Pakistan had agreed to extend last week’s ceasefire till Sunday, May 18, while President Donald Trump said both nations were “very happy” with the truce brokered by his administration last week.
Pakistan and India agreed to a ceasefire on Saturday after four days of the worst fighting since 1999 between the two nuclear-armed neighbors, who attacked each other with missiles, drones, fighter jets, and artillery fire. Tensions began when India alleged Pakistan was involved in an attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that killed 26 tourists last month. Islamabad denied involvement and called for an international probe into the incident.
Tensions came to a head last Wednesday when India fired missiles into Pakistan, claiming it had struck “terrorist camps.” Pakistan said civilians had been killed and vowed retribution, saying it had downed five Indian jets. The worst of the fighting happened on Saturday when India attacked Pakistani air bases and Pakistan launched retaliatory strikes on military facilities and storage units. As the conflict spiraled alarmingly, US President Trump announced Washington had brokered a ceasefire on Saturday.
The fragile ceasefire has been holding so far with only reports of a few violations on the first day.
“Now it [ceasefire] has been extended till [May] 18, so obviously, now ultimately, things will go to the dialogue,” Dar said in televised comments to parliament. “For now, these are military-to-military communications, so obviously, then political dialogue will take place. The resolution of all issues lies there.”
Dar said the two nations needed to re-engage in a composite dialogue, which was a structured process initiated in 1997 to address a wide range of bilateral concerns, including peace and security, Kashmir, water, and economic cooperation.
As tensions surged between India and Pakistan last month, both announced a raft of punitive measures against each other, including New Delhi unilaterally suspending the 1960 Indus Waters treaty, which governs the sharing of river waters.
India’s foreign minister said on Thursday the treaty with Pakistan would remain suspended until Islamabad ends “cross-border terrorism.”
“For us, this is a no-go area,” Dar told lawmakers. “We had announced it on April 24 as well that it [treaty suspension] will be treated as an act of war.”
India and Pakistan, both bitter rivals who possess nuclear weapons, have fought three wars since 1947 after gaining independence from British colonial India. The root cause of their conflict is the disputed Himalayan Kashmir region, which they both claim in full but administer only parts of.
Speaking to troops at a base in Qatar during a Middle East tour, Trump said on Thursday hostilities between Pakistan and India were settled.
“And Pakistan was very happy with that [ceasefire] and India was very happy with that and I think they’re on the way,” Trump said.
“We got that settled where everybody was very happy. I’ll tell you that it looked like it was really going to be escalating out of control.”
