ISLAMABAD (AP) 鈥 India and Pakistan on Saturday agreed to a ceasefire following U.S.-led talks to end the most serious military confrontation between the nuclear-armed rivals in decades.
The deal follows weeks of clashes, missile and drone strikes across their borders that were triggered by a gun massacre of tourists last month that India blames on Pakistan, which denies the charge. Dozens of civilians have been killed on both sides.
The first word of the truce came from U.S. President Donald Trump, who posted on his Truth Social platform that India and Pakistan had agreed to a full and immediate ceasefire. 鈥淐ongratulations to both Countries on using Common Sense and Great Intelligence. Thank you for your attention to this matter!鈥
Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar announced the truce on Geo News. He said Saudi Arabia and Turkey played an important role in facilitating the deal.
Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said the head of military operations from both countries spoke Saturday afternoon.
鈥淚t was agreed between them that both sides would stop all firing and military action on land, and in the air and sea. Instructions have been given on both sides to give effect to this understanding.鈥 The top military leaders would speak again on May 12, Misri added.
The deal is expected to bring a swift end to the military escalation.
India said it targeted Pakistani air bases early Saturday after Islamabad fired several high-speed missiles at military and civilian infrastructure in the country鈥檚 Punjab state. Pakistan said it intercepted most missiles and responded with retaliatory strikes.
India says it gave a befitting reply to Pakistani action
Earlier Saturday, India’s military held a press briefing in New Delhi, saying Pakistan targeted health facilities and schools at its three air bases in Indian-controlled Kashmir.
鈥淏efitting reply has been given to Pakistani actions,鈥 said Indian Col. Sofiya Qureshi.
Pakistan’s military said it used medium-range Fateh missiles to hit an Indian missile storage facility and air bases in the cities of Pathankot and Udhampur. Army spokesman Lt. Gen. Ahmad Sharif said the country’s air force assets were safe following the Indian assault.
The Associated Press could not independently verify all the actions attributed to Pakistan or India.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that he and Vice President JD Vance had engaged with senior officials from both countries over the past 48 hours.
They included Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Shehbaz Sharif, India’s External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, and the Pakistani Chief of Army Staff Asim Munir.
Rubio said the two governments agreed to 鈥渟tart talks on a broad set of issues at a neutral site.鈥
Indian strikes hit Pakistani air bases
Tensions have soared since the in India-controlled Kashmir left 26 civilians dead, mostly Indian Hindu tourists, on April 22.
They have traded strikes and heavy cross-border fire for days.
Indian missiles Saturday targeted Nur Khan air base in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, near the capital Islamabad, Murid air base in Chakwal city and Rafiqui air base in the Jhang district of eastern Punjab province, according to Pakistan’s military spokesman.
There were no immediate reports of the strike or its aftermath from residents in the densely populated Rawalpindi.
Though Pakistanis had initially celebrated their army’s response to India, they were later jubilant about the truce, saying it was a moment of national pride and relief after days of tension.
In Islamabad, Zubaida Bibi expressed her joy at the restoration of peace with India.
鈥淲ar brings nothing but suffering,” she said. 鈥淲e are happy that calm is returning. It feels like Eid to me. We have won.鈥
Explosions in India-controlled Kashmir
Following the announcement of Pakistani retaliation, residents in Indian-controlled Kashmir said they heard loud explosions at multiple places, including the two big cities of Srinagar and Jammu and the garrison town of Udhampur.
鈥淓xplosions that we are hearing today are different from the ones we heard the last two nights during drone attacks,鈥 said Shesh Paul Vaid, the region鈥檚 former top police official and Jammu resident. 鈥淚t looks like a war here.鈥
Vaid said explosions were heard from areas with military bases, adding it appeared that army sites were targeted. Residents living near Srinagar city鈥檚 airport, which is also an air base, said they were rattled by the explosions and booming sound of jets.
鈥淚 was already awake, but the explosions jolted my kids out of their sleep. They started crying,鈥 said Srinagar resident Mohammed Yasin, adding he heard at least two explosions.
Buildings were destroyed or damaged in Indian-controlled Kashmir, where powerful blasts ripped off roofs, windows and walls and left homes riddled with holes.
Villagers and rescuers in a district of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir sifted through the rubble of homes hit by overnight Indian shelling on Friday as people carried the dead. Others surveyed the ruins.
Omar Abdullah, Indian-controlled Kashmir鈥檚 top elected official, welcomed the ceasefire. He said: 鈥淗ad it happened two or three days earlier, we might have avoided the bloodshed and the loss of precious lives.鈥
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Hussain reported from Srinagar, India, and Roy reported from New Delhi. Associated Press writers Sheikh Saaliq in New Delhi, Babar Dogar in Lahore, Pakistan, Asim Tanveer in Multan, Pakistan, Munir Ahmed in Islamabad and Riaz Khan in Peshawar, Pakistan, contributed to this report.
