How India and Pakistan Reached Ceasefire Through Direct DGMO Talks

A call had been placed to stop fighting between India and Pakistan from the Pakistan DGMO Major General Kashif Abdullah to his Indian counterpart, Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai, early afternoon on Saturday. The former proposed stop-firing and air attacks; those familiar with the matter said the response was to say India would do so much the same.

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According to the people, while representatives of the US and many other countries had spoken with top Indian officials such as Foreign Minister S Jaishankar and NSA Ajit Doval, no interactions were held between the foreign ministers of the two countries, nor between the NSAs. This is fitting, the sources said, referencing how it all began with the terror attack in Pahalgam. India, reacting to the May 7 attack, struck first in the morning hours of May 7, taking out nine terror launch pads in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Since then, India has only reacted in a proportionate and responsible manner to Pakistani escalation.

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HT learned that the United States pressured Pakistan into the cessation of hostilities and that backing for the bailout package by the IMF for Islamabad may have been made conditional on this.

The sources that were quoted said the cessation of hostilities was not subject to any other matters and that no political dialogue or meetings were discussed. This would mean all actions as announced by India, for example, walking away from the Indus Water Treaty, would be in place.

The representatives stated that the only goal of Operation Sindoor was to act against terror and send a clear signal to Pakistan that it will continue to be punished for its sponsorship of terror, and any future terror attack will be treated like an act of war.

Also Read: Ceasefire with Pakistan Won’t Alter India’s Anti-Terror Stance: Jaishankar