India Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri addresses a press briefing in New Delhi on Saturday.
Karma Bhutia / AP
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Karma Bhutia / AP
Islamabad-India and Pakistan agreed with a ceasefire on Saturday after the talks led by the United States to end the most serious military confrontation between nuclear competitors during the decades, but accused of raping the agreement a few hours later.
The ceasefire had to bring a quick end to weeks of reception of clashes, including missile and drone strikes, triggered by the massacre of tourists by armed men last month that India criticizes Pakistan, which denies the load. But multiple explosions were heard in two major cities of cashmere controlled by India after the countries accepted the agreement.
The Indian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Vikram Misri, said late Saturday on Saturday, “repeated violations of understanding arrived between the two countries” and accused Pakistan of violating the agreement.
“We call on Pakistan to take the appropriate measures to remedy these violations and to face the situation of seriousness and responsibility,” he said at a press conference in New Delhi. Misri said that the Indian army “retaliated” for what he called an “border intrusion”.
In Islamabad, the Ministry of Pakistan Foreign Affairs blamed the Indian forces for having triggered the violation of the ceasefire. The ministry said that Pakistan remained attached to the agreement and that its forces took care of the situation with responsibility and restraint.
“We believe that the smooth implementation problems of the ceasefire should be resolved by communication at appropriate levels,” said the ministry.
The first word of the truce came from the American president Donald Trump, who posted on his social platform Truth according to which India and Pakistan had accepted a complete and immediate ceasefire: “Congratulations to the two countries for having used common sense and great intelligence. Thank you for your attention to this question!”
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif declared on Saturday in a speech that his country had accepted the cease-fire in the greatest interest of peace in the region and hoped all the problems pending with India, including the long-standing dispute in the cashmere region, would be resolved by a peaceful dialogue.
Misri said that the chief of military operations of the two countries had spoke on Saturday afternoon and agreed “that the two parties would stop all shots and military action on earth, and in the air and the sea”.
However, a few hours after the agreement, the explosions heard by residents of Srinagar and Jammu in the cashmere under Indian control were followed by power outages in the two cities. There was no immediate report of victims.
Omar Abdullah, the highest elected official in the region, said in an article on social networks: “What has just made the ceasefire? Explosions heard through Srinagar !!!”
Work towards a wider agreement
The conflicts between India and Pakistan are not uncommon, the two countries have periodically committed to wars, clashes and skirmishes since he obtained his independence from British India in 1947.
The ceasefire in the latest hostilities occurred after the countries fired from cross-border missile strikes on Saturday, when India said it targeted the Pakistani air bases after Islamabad fired several high-speed missiles in military and civil infrastructure in the state of Punjab. Pakistan said he had responded with retaliation strikes.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he and vice-president JD Vance had committed senior officials from the two countries in the last 48 hours. They understood the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sharif, the Minister of External Affairs of India subrahmanyam Jaishankar and the head of the Pakistani army staff Asim Munir.
Rubio said the two governments agreed to “start talks on a wide range of questions on a neutral site”.
Although the Pakistanis initially celebrated the reprisals of their army, they were then jubilant about the truce, saying that it was a moment of national pride and relief after days of tension.
In Islamabad, Zubaida Bibi expressed his joy at the restoration of peace with India.
“War only brings suffering,” she said. “We are happy that Calm is coming back. It’s like Eid for me. We won.”
Indian strikes have struck the Pakistani air bases
Tensions have skyrocketed since the attack on a popular tourist site of the Kashmir controlled by the Indians made 26 dead civilians, mainly Indian Hindu tourists on April 22.
Before the ceasefire was reached on Saturday, the soldiers of India organized a press briefing in New Delhi, saying that Pakistan had targeted health establishments and schools in its three air bases in cashmere.
“The convincing response was given to Pakistani actions,” said Indian colonel Sofiya Qureshi.
The Indian missiles have targeted Nur Khan’s air base in the city of Garrison de Rawalpindi, near the capital Islamabad, Murida air base in the city of Chakwal and the Rafiqui air base in the Jhang district, in the province of eastern Punjab, according to the military spokesperson for Pakistan.
There was no immediate report of the strike or its consequences of the residents of the densely populated Rawalpindi.
Pakistan soldiers said that he used medium -range Fateh missiles to strike an Indian missile storage installation and air bases in the cities of Pathankot and Udhampur. The army spokesman, Lieutenant-General Ahmad Sharif, said that the country’s air force assets were safe after the Indian assault.
The Associated Press could not independently verify all the actions allocated to Pakistan or India.
Cashmir explosions controlled by India
After the announcement of Pakistani reprisals, the residents of the cashmere controlled by India said they heard noisy explosions in several places, including the big cities of Srinagar and Jammu and the city of Udhampur.
“The explosions we hear today are different from those we have heard the last two nights during drone attacks,” said Shesh Paul Vaid, former senior police officer in the region and Jammu resident. “It looks like a war here.”
Vaid said explosions have been heard in military bases, adding that it seemed like the army sites were targeted. Residents living near Srinagar airport, which is also an air base, said they were shaken by explosions and the booming sound of jets.
“I was already awake, but the explosions sang my children from their sleep. They started to cry,” said Mohammed Yasin, a resident from Srinagar.
Omar Abdullah, the highest official elected official of the cashmere under control of India, praised the ceasefire. But he said that if it had happened two or three days earlier “we could have avoided the effusion of blood and the loss of precious lives.”
