India-Pakistan truce holds after four days of military clashes

Sudhi Ranjan Sen, Bloomberg News on May 11, 2025

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

A ceasefire between India and Pakistan appeared to be holding on Sunday after four days of clashes that brought the two nuclear-armed nations close to a full-blown war.

India achieved its objective of “decimating the terrorist camps,” Air Marshal A K Bharti said at a briefing Sunday, adding that dozens of suspected militants in Pakistan had been killed. Five Indian soldiers as well as civilians died in the fighting, Rajiv Ghai, India’s director general of military operations, said.

The conflict escalated sharply on Saturday with drone and missile strikes on each other’s military sites, before both sides agreed to a ceasefire, which the U.S. said it helped mediate. While there were reports of both sides violating the truce in the hours after it was called, the ceasefire appeared to be holding on Sunday.

The two nations, which have clashed several times over the decades over the disputed territory of Kashmir, conducted tit-for-tat military strikes since Wednesday, accusing each other of escalating the conflict. The U.S., China and other countries called for restraint as the situation deteriorated rapidly on Saturday morning.

Unlike previous clashes, which had been confined along the Line of Control that divides the disputed territory of Kashmir, this time military strikes occurred along the western border, which is not under dispute, and in densely populated cities.

Tensions first erupted on April 22, when gunmen killed 26 civilians — mainly tourists — in India’s Jammu and Kashmir region. India called the attack an act of terrorism and accused Pakistan of involvement, allegations Islamabad has denied.

Two weeks after the attacks, on May 7, India struck nine targets — what it described as terrorist camps — inside Pakistan, the deepest breach of that country’s territory by India since the 1971 war.

Pakistan’s army had said it shot down five Indian fighter jets, including French-made Rafales. India has so far deflected questions about the fighter jets, with Air Marshal A K Bharti saying in a briefing Sunday that “we are in a combat scenario and losses are a part of combat.” He added that “at this time I would not like to comment on that because we are still in a combat situation.”

India’s army had previously said it shot down Pakistani fighter jets, a claim which Pakistan hasn’t confirmed.

_____

(With assistance from Faseeh Mangi.)

_____