Mediated by US President Donald Trump, India and Pakistan have agreed to a ceasefire and end the hostilities and aerial warfare that began on May 7 when India resorted to unprovoked firing of missiles deep inside Pakistan as well as Azad Kashmir. Pakistan rightly described the attack as an act of naked aggression and responded by pounding Indian military targets in Punjab and occupied Kashmir.

The ceasefire was announced by US President Trump in a post on his social media platform Truth Social. “After a long night of talks mediated by the United States, I am pleased to announce that India and Pakistan have agreed to a full and immediate ceasefire,” Trump wrote, congratulating both nations and praising them for “using common sense and great intelligence”. US President Donald Trump said he would work with Pakistan and India to see if a solution could be reached to the Kashmir dispute.

“I am very proud of the strong and unwaveringly powerful leadership of India and Pakistan for having the strength, wisdom, and fortitude to fully know and understand that it was time to stop the current aggression that could have led to the death and destruction of so many, and so much. Millions of good and innocent people could have died! I am proud that the USA was able to help you arrive at this historic and heroic decision.”

Immediately afterwards, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar took to X to announce the ceasefire “with immediate effect”, writing “Pakistan has always strived for peace and security in the region, without compromising on its sovereignty and territorial integrity.” His counterpart, Indian Foreign Minister Jaishankar wrote on X that both countries “worked out an understanding on [the] stoppage of firing and military action”. India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said a ceasefire was established between the two neighbours, adding during a press briefing that the military operations chiefs of both nations agreed “that both sides would stop all firing and military action on land, air and sea with  immediate effect”.

It may be added here that large-scale military operations  began in the early hours of Saturday last after India attacked Pakistan airbases. Soon afterwards, Pakistan launched its retaliatory operation, Bunyan-um-Marsoos. Addressing a press conference, the DG ISPR said that India was “pushing the whole region towards a dangerous war with its madness, aggression and deceit”. The DG ISPR also said that India had fired missiles at Afghanistan and used drones to conduct attacks as well.

In the following three days both countries attacked each other with deadly missiles as well as swarms of drones and claimed inflicting heavy damage on military establishments. A large number of civilians were killed in these attacks as the world looked at the fighting between two nuclear-armed nations with awe and rising concern about a bigger conflagration breaking out. Many countries including China, Britain, Saudi Arabia and Iran counselled restraint and offered to mediate between the two countries.

The people of India and Pakistan have heaved a sigh of relief that the two sub-continental neighbours have finally stepped back from what could lead to a nuclear brink. Needless to say, India was clearly in the wrong as it thoughtlessly blamed Pakistan for the Pahalgam terrorist attack without providing a shred of proof. Islamabad called for an impartial international investigation into the incident and offered its full cooperation but the Modi regime arrogantly rejected the offer and launched the May 7 attack codenamed Operation Sindoor . In response, Pakistan had launched Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos, hitting several military targets in held Jammu and Kashmir as well as Indian Punjab.

The aerial hostilities, which went up the escalatory ladder with each passing day, saw  widespread use of drone swarms and high-tech electronic warfare. The signs were ominous as they pointed to the possibility of an all-out war between the two nations. Throughout the three days of intense air combat the Indian media played a most incendiary role, cooking up stories and whipping up the war hysteria. Most mainstream Indian outlets, including some respected journalists, went off the tangent and spread pure lies and fake news like the Indian forces having destroyed several Pakistani cities. It was sensation-mongering and irresponsible journalism at its worst which amounted to putting oil on fire.

Good sense dictates that both India and Pakistan now  refrain from doing anything that may rupture the fragile peace. Let us hope that the ceasefire holds, paving the way for the full return of normalcy in the region. But beyond this it is important to initiate measures bilaterally as well as under international auspices to end the unilateral suspension by India of the Indus Water Treaty which is the lifeline of its agricultural economy and a guarantee of its food security.

The latest conflict between the two countries also emphasises the need for the UN and big powers to intervene to find a feasible solution to the Kashmir dispute which lies at the root of the endless confrontation the sub-continent has been through over the last over 70 years. It is also time the Indian leadership saw reason and agreed to sit down with Pakistan to resolve the festering sore that has poisoned relations between them for so long and prevented them from realising their full economic potential.