How India, Pak Arrived at a Truce

At 1:30 AM on May 7, shortly after a precision military operation was completed, India's Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) called his Pakistani counterpart, Major General Kashif Abdullah, to convey that India had struck terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

- JAYANTH JACOB @New Delhi

The operation, named Operation Sindoor, was launched at 1:05 AM and lasted just 25 minutes, during which the Indian Armed Forces fired 24 missiles at nine terrorist camps identified as staging grounds for attacks against India.

The DGMO emphasized that the strike was measured, precise, and non-escalatory, with no Pakistani military assets targeted—only terrorist infrastructures were hit.

Soon after the strike, phone lines between several world capitals and New Delhi lit up, as "diplomats and leaders, who earlier wondered how India would respond to Pahalgam, were now eager to know what would come next," sources said.

India had already made it clear that it would not be business as usual if terror camps across the border continued to operate—and that any provocation would be met with a firm response. This position was conveyed during External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar's call with US Secretary of State and National Security Advisor Marco Rubio on May 1.

"Wahan se goli chalegi, toh yahan se gola chalega" (If bullets come from there, shells will come from here) was Prime Minister Narendra Modi's clear message. "It couldn't have been anything different," sources said.

Within 48 hours of the May 7 strikes, the situation grew tense, drawing significant concern from world leaders. The United States, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Iran, and Egypt were among the countries that reached out to India and Pakistan, seeking clarity and urging restraint or opening talks.

The operation concluded, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval spoke with Marco Rubio and other key interlocutors. As calls began pouring in, several countries expressed concern that tensions between the two neighbors could escalate further. Leading the outreach—apart from the United States—were Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Iran, and Egypt, seeking clarity, urging restraint or opening talks.