By Enyichukwu Enemanna
The Indian military on Sunday delivered a “hotline message” to Pakistan, cautioning against any move to violate the ceasefire agreed this week, noting that New Delhi will respond appropriately.
India’s Director General of Military Operations (DGMO), Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai, spoke as a 24-hour-old ceasefire appeared to be holding, after both sides blamed each other for initial violations on Saturday night.
The truce, announced on Saturday, came after four days of intense fighting between the nuclear-armed neighbours.
In what analysts have described as the worst fighting in nearly three decades, both Asian neighbours fired missiles and drones at each other’s military installations, killing almost 70 people.
Diplomacy and pressure from the United States helped to secure the ceasefire deal when it seemed the conflict was spiralling out of control.
“Sometimes, these understandings take time to fructify, to manifest on the ground,” Ghai, the Indian DGMO, told a media briefing, referring to the truce. “The (Indian) armed forces were on a very, very high alert and continue to be in that state.”
The Indian army chief has given a mandate to commanders to deal with “violations of any kind” from across the border in the manner they deem fit, Ghai added.
He said his Pakistani counterpart called him on Saturday afternoon and proposed that the two countries “cease hostilities”, urgently requesting a ceasefire.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced the ceasefire on Saturday, saying it was reached after talks mediated by Washington.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said India and Pakistan had also agreed to start talks on “a broad set of issues at a neutral site”.
While Islamabad has thanked Washington for facilitating the ceasefire and welcomed Trump’s offer to mediate on the Kashmir dispute with India, New Delhi has not commented on U.S. involvement in the truce or on talks at a neutral site.
India maintains that disputes with Pakistan must be resolved directly between the two countries and rejects any third-party involvement.
