 "The medium-range Akash air defence system is in service with the Indian Army and Air Force. Image courtesy BEL")
The India-Pakistan ceasefire reached on May 10 does not have an “expiry date”, according to the Indian Army.
“As far as continuation of the break in hostilities is concerned, as decided in the interaction between the DGMOs of May 12, there is no expiry date to it,” said the Army, as per The Times of India.
The clarification came after Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said last week that the Pakistan had agreed to extend the ceasefire with India till Sunday in a phone call between the two countries’ directors general of military operations (DGMOs) on Thursday. The Army’s statement implied that there was no point of any periodic extension as the ceasefire had no deadline in the first place.
After four days of intense combat in which India struck nine terrorist sites in Pakistan and at least eight airbases in addition to air defence and radar sites , India agreed to Pakistan’s request for a ceasefire on May 10. Subsequently, the DGMOs of the two countries held talks on May 12.
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India has maintained that Operation Sindoor, which was launched in response to the Pahalgam attack, has not been ended but just paused. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday said that Pakistan had been put “on probation” for now.
“If Pakistan’s behaviour improves, it is fine. But if there is any disturbance, harshest punishment will be given,” said Singh.
The two countries are currently working to build confidence-building measures to reduce tensions. As Pakistan attacked India with hundreds of drones, missiles, and warplanes, the two tensions between the countries were at the highest point in decades. However, India kept escalation dominance and continued to strike Pakistan, forcing it to blink and request a ceasefire.
Impact Shorts
View AllIn a major escalation that appeared to have been wargamed, Pakistan moved ground troops along with heavy equipment to forward areas after the Pahalgam attack. The ToI had reported that Pakistan had moved many reserve Army formations, tanks, and Chinese-made SH-15 self-propelled 155mm howitzers closer to Line of Control (LoC) and International Border (IB) and India followed up with ‘mirror deployments’ of forces.