Pakistan Launches Retaliatory Strikes, India Responds as Conflict Threatens to Spiral Out of Control - Then Trump Steps In
A day after Pakistan launched attacks on its fellow nuclear nemesis, hope that the conflict with India would be contained emerged from President Donald Trump.
“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 announced on Truth Social Saturday morning.
“Congratulations to both Countries on using Common Sense and Great Intelligence,” Trump wrote.
Pakistan confirmed the ceasefire would take effect, with India saying it would begin at 5 p.m. Saturday local time, according to Reuters.
India launched the latest round of hostilities Wednesday by attacking what it “terrorist infrastructure” in Pakistan and Pakistan’s half of the disputed province of Kashmir. India said the attack was in response to the deaths of 26 Hindus in India’s share of Kashmir.
Pakistan, two weeks after 26 people were killed in an attack on Hindu tourists in Indian Kashmir.
Islamabad denied allegations that it was responsible for the attack. Since Wednesday, the two sides have exchanged attacks using missiles, drones and aircraft.
Each side has claimed Kashmir since the 1947 creation of Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan.
A report in The New York Times noted that overnight Friday and early Saturday, the two sides targeted and damaged each other’s military bases, although the extent of the damage was uncertain.
NBC reported that during Saturday clashes preceding the ceasefire, at least 13 Pakistani civilians were killed and addition to 50 wounded in India’s attacks on Pakistani forces in Kashmir.
Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, a representative of India’s army, said that early Saturday, Pakistan’s army was “continuously attacking the western borders.”
She said Pakistan “has used drones, long-range weapons, loitering munitions and fighter jets to attack India’s military sites.
“India neutralized many dangers, but Pakistan tried to infiltrate via air at more than 26 places,” she said, saying four bases were damaged.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio offered a window into the American role in halting the fighting in a post on X.
Over the past 48 hours, @VP Vance and I have engaged with senior Indian and Pakistani officials, including Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Shehbaz Sharif, External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Chief of Army Staff Asim Munir, and National Security Advisors Ajit…
— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) May 10, 2025
“Over the past 48 hours, @VP Vance and I have engaged with senior Indian and Pakistani officials, including Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Shehbaz Sharif, External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Chief of Army Staff Asim Munir, and National Security Advisors Ajit Doval and Asim Malik,” Rubio posted.
“I am pleased to announce the Governments of India and Pakistan have agreed to an immediate ceasefire and to start talks on a broad set of issues at a neutral site. We commend Prime Ministers Modi and Sharif on their wisdom, prudence, and statesmanship in choosing the path of peace,” Rubio wrote.
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