Hours later, Pak breaches ceasefire pact

This is no ceasefire... Explosions heard across Srinagar!!! OMAR ABDULLAH, J&K CM

- Ravi Krishnan Khajuria

JAMMU/SRINAGAR: India accused Pakistan on Saturday night of breaching an agreement to stop all military action and said it was defending against the violations, hours after an understanding announced by US President Donald Trump sought to end four days of escalating hostilities between the two neighbours.

At a hurriedly convened briefing at 11 pm, foreign secretary Vikram Misri said there were "repeated violations of the understanding" over the last few hours. "This is a breach of the understanding arrived at earlier today. The armed forces are giving an adequate and appropriate response to these violations and we take very, very serious note of these violations," he said.

"We call upon Pakistan to take appropriate steps to address these violations and deal with the situation with seriousness and responsibility," Misri said, adding that the armed forces were maintaining a strong vigil on the situation.

"They have been given instructions to deal strongly with any instances of repetition of the violations of the border along the international border as well as the Line of Control," he said.

Officials told HT that drones were sighted over Udhampur and Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir, and Gujarat home minister Harsh Sanghavi confirmed similar sightings over Kutch. There were unconfirmed reports of drone sightings in the border provinces of Punjab and Rajasthan, and precautionary blackouts imposed across a wide arc of cities in five states. However, the intensity of attacks was lower than that seen in previous rounds, and India, according to people familiar with the matter, did not retaliate by targeting specific targets in Pakistan.