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India and Pakistan held talks on May 15 and agreed to extend the ongoing ceasefire for the next three days, according to Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar.
The April 22 terrorist attack on Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir sparked a serious crisis between India and Pakistan, with New Delhi blaming Islamabad for the incident.
The situation escalated on May 7 following deadly Indian retaliatory strikes against Pakistan. The two counties exchanged strikes across the Line of Control, the de-facto borders in the disputed region of Kashmir, as well as over the internationally-recognized border for the next three days. A ceasefire was announced on May 10, with the United States taking credit.
Addressing the parliament, Dar said that the militaries of both countries communicated earlier in the day and reached the decision to prolong the ceasefire, with plans to follow up with political dialogue.
“The ceasefire was initially agreed upon on May 10 to last until May 12. It was later extended to May 14, and now further extended to May 18,” he told lawmakers.
The minister noted that military-level communication has so far been instrumental in maintaining the ceasefire and after May 18, comprehensive political talks would begin.
“There will be composite and result-oriented talks with India. The purpose is not to accept anyone’s superiority but to resolve issues on the basis of equality,” he said.
The Indian military confirmed the extension of the ceasefire with Pakistan, stating that “confidence-building measures” will continue.
While the military confrontation between the two nuclear powers appears to be over for now, the crisis itself is still far from being over.
India and Pakistan have traded accusations of nuclear weapons mismanagement for the last few days. India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh questioned the safety of nuclear weapons in Pakistan on March 15 while visiting a military base in Indian-administered Kashmir, calling the neighboring country an “irresponsible and rogue nation”.
“I believe that Pakistan’s nuclear weapons should be taken under the supervision of IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency],” Singh said.
In response, Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs that Singh had revealed his “profound insecurity and frustration regarding Pakistan’s effective defence and deterrence”.
“The comments of India’s Defence Minister also show his sheer ignorance of the mandate and responsibilities of a specialized agency of the United Nations like the IAEA,” the ministry said in a statement.
“If anything, the IAEA and the international community should be worried about the repeated theft and illicit trafficking incidents involving nuclear and radioactive material in India,” it added.
Overall, tensions between India and Pakistan could take months to calm down. Despite recent progress in talks between the two sides, clashes could renew if the root causes of the crisis were not addressed.
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france cries , the west shudders and china waits and watches . colonialism falters . and the fog of war is thick .
pakistan zindabat. pakistan bombed india and india run to usa and wanted ceasefire.