What will the future be?

India and Pakistan have agreed to a ceasefire. There will be fits and starts, but ultimately it will hold.

- HARSHA KAKAR

The agreement came after the Pakistan DGMO spoke to his Indian counterpart. The Pakistani DGMO, Major General Kashif Abdullah, called his Indian counterpart, Lt Gen Rajiv Ghai, initially at about 9 am, but was ignored. He made another call at 3.35 pm reiterating his request for a ceasefire, which was accepted.

The Pakistani side conveyed that this offer came from their army chief. Two calls from Pakistan on the same day, both with a similar request, is not normal.

It was not international pressure which pushed the calls but India's retaliation. India refused to respond to the first request as it had already planned to target Pakistan's air bases, which it did, damaging them and making them non-operational, while destroying or damaging many of their aircraft.

A second reason was India's direct missile hit on Kirna Hills, a hardened military storage site for nuclear weapons, near Sargodha airbase. This rattled Pakistan. It went crying to the US as it was now at the end of its tether. Finally, with troops withdrawn from Baluchistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, freedom fighters had gained the upper hand. If conflict endured, Pakistan could face significant losses in the west.

Donald Trump tweeted that the two sides had agreed to a ceasefire. This was based on Pakistan's panic call seeking peace, a repeat of Kargil. India rejected Trump's comment, insisting the ceasefire was agreed to on Pakistan's request, which came on American prompting after Pakistan begged for their interference.

Pakistan's Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharief, thanked Donald Trump for his intervention, implying that it was desperately seeking a way out. Pakistan has always sought third party mediation, which India has rejected.