India-Pakistan ceasefire brings relief as guns fall silent

People’s Daily Online

(Xinhua) 08:07, May 12, 2025

NEW DELHI, May 11 (Xinhua) — People living close to border areas and the Line of Control (LoC) between India and Pakistan Sunday woke up to a calm morning as guns have fallen silent four days after an incessant military conflict.

The uneasy calm has brought relief to people in both countries, especially those living on the boundaries between them.

A ceasefire reached by the two neighbors seemed to be holding, despite the accusations of ceasefire violations from both sides.

Hours after an announcement of a ceasefire on Saturday afternoon, loud explosions were heard in the Indian-controlled Kashmir.

“For the last few hours, there have been repeated violations of the understanding arrived at earlier this evening between the Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) of India and Pakistan. This is a breach of an understanding arrived at earlier today,” India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said during a briefing Saturday night.

Reacting to Misri’s comments, Pakistan expressed its commitment to the faithful implementation of the ceasefire agreement with India, despite an accusation of India’s violations in some areas.

So far, there have been no reports of firing or shelling from anywhere between the two countries.

Reports from Srinagar and Jammu and neighboring Punjab and Rajasthan said calm has returned to the streets, and people were seen busy in their routine activities.

“Since early Sunday, there has been a calm here as well as on the frontiers, and this has brought a sense of relief and security. However, no one knows how long it will hold,” said Amjad Hussain, a resident in Jammu. “One has to remain cautious. The past few days have been very chaotic and tense.”

On Sunday morning, shops started reopening, and people were seen resuming their daily chores.

“We are longing to go back to our hometown Uri. Yesterday’s announcement was really a big relief,” said Mumtaz Ahmad. “If everything remains peaceful, we would certainly go back tomorrow.”

Ahmad and his family relocated to Srinagar temporarily on Thursday after artillery shells rained on his neighborhood near the LoC in the frontier town of Uri.

The LoC is a de facto border that divides Kashmir into India- and Pakistan-controlled parts. The LoC is heavily guarded by the military on both sides.

Gowhar Geelani, an author and expert on South Asia with a particular interest in India and Pakistan affairs, viewed the ceasefire as a big relief for the general population of the two countries.

“The escalatory ladder was signalling a devastating shift toward a more catastrophic situation, including the possible use of limited nukes, thus threatening peace, stability and security of the entire South Asian region,” Geelani told Xinhua.

“It was very clear that world powers played a role behind the scenes to convince the two nuclear powers to consider de-escalation to give peace and dialogue a chance. The ceasefire is a big relief for the population living on the edge on both sides,” Geelani said.

India and Pakistan had targeted each other with missiles, drones and continuously resorted to fierce shelling in the frontier areas close to the border and the LoC.

They had also attacked each other’s air bases during the skirmishes, thus flaring tensions to an even more dangerous level.

The use of missiles, drones, long-range weapons and loitering munitions by the militaries from both sides inflicted civilian casualties, besides damaging residential houses and other structures on both sides.

The escalations had also forced the two countries to shut airports for civilian traffic, resulting in the cancellation of flights.

People in the frontier areas were forced to leave their homes and look for safer locations.

Fighting between the two countries started on Wednesday after New Delhi carried out deadly airstrikes inside Pakistan and Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, thus evoking a strong response from Islamabad.

The airstrikes were undertaken to avenge last month’s killing of 26 people by gunmen in Pahalgam, about 89 km east of Srinagar, the summer capital of the Indian-controlled Kashmir.

New Delhi blamed Islamabad for supporting the gunmen, a charge denied by Islamabad.