India-Pakistan ceasefire appears to hold after early claims of violations

Australia Broadcast Center

11-05-2025

A ceasefire between India and Pakistan appears to be holding after both nations blamed the other for initial violations of an agreed-upon truce, as United States President Donald Trump vowed to help the arch-rivals find a solution on the disputed Kashmir region.
The ceasefire took effect on Saturday and followed four days of intense fighting between the nuclear-armed neighbours.
In the worst fighting since India and Pakistan's last open conflict in 1999, the countries fired missiles and drones at each other's military installations, killing almost 70 people.
Diplomacy and pressure from the US helped secure the ceasefire deal, but within hours of its coming into force, artillery fire was witnessed in Indian-administered Kashmir — the centre of much of last week's fighting.
Blasts from air-defence systems boomed in cities near the border under a blackout, similar to those heard during the previous two evenings, according to local authorities, residents and Reuters witnesses.
Late on Saturday, India said Pakistan had violated the ceasefire, while Pakistan said it was committed to the agreement and blamed India for the violations.
The fighting and explosions died down by dawn, according to Reuters witnesses, and power was restored in most border areas in India after a blackout on Saturday night.
India's army chief on Sunday then granted "full authority" to army commanders for "counteraction in the kinetic domain" to any violation of the "understanding" between the countries, the army said in a statement.
President Trump praised the leaders of both countries for agreeing to halt the aggression and said he would "substantially" increase trade with them.
"I will work with you both to see if … a solution can be arrived at concerning Kashmir," he said in a post on his Truth Social platform.
Shortly after, India's foreign secretary said New Delhi had retaliated after Pakistan's "repeated violations" of the truce.
Pakistan said it "remains committed" to the ceasefire and that its forces were handling violations by India with "responsibility and restraint".
Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan each rule a part of Kashmir but claim it in full, and have twice gone to war over the Himalayan region.
India blames Pakistan for an insurgency in its part of the territory, but Pakistan says it provides only moral, political and diplomatic support to Kashmiri separatists.
Pakistan's Foreign Ministry welcomed Mr Trump's statement and added that "any just and lasting settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute … must ensure the realisation of the fundamental rights of the Kashmiri people, including their inalienable right to self-determination".
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in a post on X that he was "extremely grateful" to Mr Trump for his "most valuable offer to play a greater role in bringing lasting peace to South Asia".
Among those most affected by the fighting were residents in border areas on either side, many of whom fled their homes when the fighting began on Wednesday, two weeks after a deadly attack in Indian Kashmir's Pahalgam that India said was backed by Islamabad.
Pakistan denied the accusation.
In the Indian border city of Amritsar, home to the Golden Temple revered by Sikhs, people returned to the streets on Sunday after a siren sounded to signal a return to normal activities following the tension of recent days.
"Ever since the terrorists attacked people in Pahalgam, we have been shutting our shops very early and there was an uncertainty," Satvir Singh Alhuwalia, 48, a shopkeeper in the city, said.
"I am happy that at least there will be no bloodshed on both sides."
In some border areas, however, people were asked not to return home just yet. In the Indian Kashmir city of Baramulla, authorities warned residents to stay away due to the threat posed by unexploded munitions.
"People here are hosting us well but just as a bird feels at peace in its own nest, we also feel comfortable only in our own homes, even if they have been damaged," said Azam Chaudhry, 55, who fled his home in the Pakistani town of Khuiratta and has now been told to wait until Monday before returning.
In Indian Kashmir's Uri, a key power plant that was damaged in a Pakistani drone attack is still under repair.
"The project has suffered minor damage … We have stopped generation as the transmission line has been damaged," an unidentified official from state-run NHPC, India's biggest hydropower company, said.
Even with the ceasefire in effect, the Indian Air Force said in a midday post on X that operations were ongoing.
The air force's description of operations in such situations includes active monitoring, assessment and state of readiness.
Pakistani officials said there had been some firing in Pakistani Kashmir's Bhimber overnight but nowhere else, and that there were no casualties.
AFP/Reuters