IS THERE A CEASE FIRE BETWEEN INDIA & PAKISTAN ?

by Alok K. Shrivastava, IAS (R)May 13, 2025Blogs0 comments

From a sort of once in a blue moon blasts to guerrilla warfare to low intensity war to a full fledged war, this is how Pakistan has been behaving with India for 78 years. Ethnic similarity between people of two places becomes a plus point in their favour to push forward their evil designs on Indian soil.

It is an established fact that Pak hatred has intensified with creation of Bangladesh in 1971 and subsequently sufficient fat was added to the low ignition fire when the disputed Babri structure was demolished on December 6,1992.

In the recent past, armed forces of two countries came face to face first in cold setting of Kargil in 1999 and very recently on the entire western front with effect from May 6.

High Precision Air Strikes

High precision heavy air strikes were conducted late at night (01.05 hours) on May 6 over nine terror locations which were synonymous with hideouts and training centres of the terrorists, solely aimed at disturbing India. If the figures obtained are to be believed, a large number of terrorists and possibly under training terrorists succumbed to their injuries. Training infrastructure too was reduced to rubbles. Altogether 24 lethal missiles were used and none of them could be intercepted by Pakistan. Brahmos missiles were also used in precision attacks on dozen Pak Air bases, including Nur Khan, Murid and Rafiqui not very far off from Islamabad and close to their vital nuclear facilities.

In contrast, most of the sub-standard missiles and Drones of Pakistan obtained from China and Turkey were hit and stopped mid way.

Retaliation By Pakistan

In retaliation, Pak Air Force attacked many places in Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat. Most of their missiles were intercepted, thus casualties were few and devastation of land and property was minimal on Indian soil. The enemy focused mainly on J & K and Punjab.

Intensified Action On LOC

Side by side, Pak Rangers and Army have intensified attacks along the Line of Control. Violation of Cease Fire was as such happening since April 23, soon after horrifying bloodshed at Pahalgam. When seriousness was sensed after meticulous planning, Indian Army went closer to LOC and they have gradually taken over Command and Control of the crucial Border Out Posts (BOP’s).

CEASE FIRE ?

Cease Fire or a truce or an armistice means an agreement that is reached between two groups or countries to stop fighting. It seeks to regulate termination of all military activities.

Coming to the sudden “decision” of a Cease Fire between India and Pakistan, one may ask when a formal War was not declared and no negotiation took place in between.

How Can A Cease Fire Be Declared ?

It may be noted that based on solid grounds gained, India was on the verge of a certain victory. An average Indian is, therefore, in a state of shock. People had high expectations. Owing to its failing air defence system and miserable of its economy, Pakistan was not in a position to take it any more. So Pakistan will certainly gain from this sudden decision. We may recall that such An air superiority by Indian Air Force was not seen in recent times.

Neutral Venue For Talks

How can bilateral talks be held at a neutral venue when India has consistently opposed a third party intervention while Pakistan is pushing for the same ?

USA, right from beginning had taken a kind of neutral stand and that U.N. Security Council too had appealed to both the countries for exercising restraint. All said and done, U.S.A. should not be trusted under these trying circumstances.

It is only very recently that Marco Rubio, U.S. Secretary of State and National Security Advisor, offered their assistance in starting constructive talks to avoid future conflicts. He, not the U.S. Secretary of Defence, is reported to have spoken to Pak Army Chief, the man at the centre of Pakistan’s hostile action against India.

Latter has reportedly taken the Prime Minister of Pakistan into confidence.

Series of calls set the stage for what the U.S. State Department called a ‘U.S. brokered Cease fire’ between the two countries.

According to New York Times, J.D. Vance, U.S. Vice President also supposedly spoke to the Indian Prime Minister.

It may be noted that retaliation of Pakistan was very aggressive in Jammu, Uri, Pathankot, Udhampur and Jaisalmer. In the early hours of May 10, too Pakistan attacked Srinagar aggressively. India is said to have used missiles over Lahore around the same time.

An official source has said that ‘any terror attack in future will be deemed as an act of War.’

HOW LONG WILL CEASEFIRE HOLD ?

It will be upto the armies of two countries and Pakistan establishment led by General Asim Munir.

In this context, it may be advisable to see the following tweet signed by Donald Trump, the U.S. President :

“After a long night of talks mediated by the U.S., I am pleased to announce that India and Pakistan have agreed to a FULL and IMMEDIATE CEASE FIRE.

Congratulations to both countries on using common sense and great intelligence.

Thank You for your attention to this matter.”

Within hours of this announcement, Pakistan violated Cease Fire in Akhnoor, Mendhar, R.S.Pura, Chhambh, Bhumber and Gurez sectors. Pakistani Drones were sighted and swiftly brought down in Baramulla and Badami Bag Cantonment, Head Quarter of 15 Corp at Srinagar. Drone attacks also took place at Udhampur, H.Q. of Northern Command. In Akhnoor, Pak Army used Artillery fire to violate Cease Fire. Poonch and Uri too suffered intensive damage to civilian property, such as, a Gurudwara and public infrastructure. Five persons lost their lives in Poonch and Akhnoor.

President Trump in the meanwhile, has revived Jammu & Kashmir mediation offer after ‘praising’ leadership of India and Pakistan following days of hostilities. Claiming credit for ‘brokering’ the Cease Fire, Trump in his characteristic style, has uttered that two countries had agreed on a “full and immediate Ceasefire” after talks mediated by U.S.A.

TO SUM UP

First four days of Operation Sindoor saw killing of 100 terrorists, including five dreaded ones, such as, Mohammad Yusuf Azhar, Muddasar K.Khas, Hafiz Muhammad Jameel, Muhammad Hasan Khan and Khalid alias Abu Akasha.

On the Indian side five military men lost their lives.

In addition to these terrorists, as per official sources, Pakistan has lost 35 to 40 of its men at LOC and its Air Force a ‘few’ aircrafts, apart from suffering massive damage to assets and air bases. Five of nine terror hubs destroyed were in POK and rest were in Pakistan.

While one missile each at Pokharan and one place in J & K were diffused after falling, a Pak ballistic missile aimed at New Delhi on May 10 was stopped mid way and brought down at Hissar. Imagine its repercussion, had it fallen over national capital ?

Most intense action since Kargil war has come to almost a halt but in the words of External Affairs Minister, uncompromising stance of India against terrorism will continue.

Situation is still very fluid and Operation Sindoor is going on. We all need to avoid any kind of speculation as also dissemination of unverified information.