{"id":9981,"date":"2025-05-19T10:09:45","date_gmt":"2025-05-19T05:09:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/?p=9981"},"modified":"2025-05-19T10:09:46","modified_gmt":"2025-05-19T05:09:46","slug":"ceasefire-has-no-expiry-date-officials-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en_gb\/security\/ceasefire-has-no-expiry-date-officials-say\/","title":{"rendered":"Ceasefire has no expiry date, officials say"},"content":{"rendered":"

ISLAMABAD: A ceasefire<\/a> reached between Pakistan and India following days of military confrontation<\/a> does not have an expiry date, officials from both countries confirmed, putting to rest the speculations that the truce would lapse this weekend unless renewed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rumours of a Sunday deadline gained traction after Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar told Pakistan\u2019s Senate last Thursday that the directors general of military operations (DGMOs) from both sides had agreed during a May 14 conversation to extend the ceasefire until May 18<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Media outlets then widely reported that the ceasefire was set to expire. However, officials from both sides clarified on Sunday that no DGMO talks were scheduled for the day and that the ceasefire, originally brokered through intensive US diplomacy, remained in force without a set end date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is no expiry date to the break in hostilities, as reaffirmed in the DGMOs interaction of May 12,\u201d an Indian official said, countering speculations of an imminent breakdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was no official statement from the Pakistan Army, but a diplomat on the condition of anonymity said the ceasefire remained in effect and carried no set time frame for expiration. He said the discussions of the DGMOs were aimed at \u201cmaking the ceasefire sustainable\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The May 10 ceasefire came after the most serious escalation between the nuclear-armed neighbours in over two decades, with cross-LoC shelling, drone incursions, and air force strikes pushing both sides to the brink. The United States, led by Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, played a key role in mediating the truce, with support from Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Initial violations were reported on the day following the ceasefire. But since then, military commanders have engaged in constructive dialogue. The May 12 call<\/a> between Pakistan\u2019s Maj Gen Kashif Abdullah and India\u2019s Lt Gen Rajiv Ghai focused on reinforcing mutual commitments to avoid any aggressive or hostile actions, officials said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In that conversation, the two sides had agreed to begin a phased reduction of forward deployments and regular troops along the international border, restoring the usual peacetime arrangement where the border is manned primarily by Pakistan\u2019s Rangers and India\u2019s Border Security Force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Foreign Office spokesman Shafqat Ali Khan said both DGMOs \u201chave maintained periodic contact since May 10\u201d and agreed to develop a structured mechanism for de-escalation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Islamabad views the ceasefire as a potential stepping stone toward broader peace talks on long-standing issues like the Kashmir dispute and water rights, India has taken a more rigid stance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the ceasefire as a \u201ctemporary pause,\u201d and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh declared that \u201cOperation Sindoor is not over yet \u2026 Pakistan is on probation\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Ceasefire will hold easily\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In comments underscoring Pakistan\u2019s stance, military spokesperson Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry told Arab News<\/a><\/em> that the ceasefire was holding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The DG ISPR also reiterated Pakistan\u2019s longstanding position on Kashmir, warning that the dispute remains a flashpoint unless resolved through dialogue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs far as Pakistan army is concerned, this ceasefire will hold easily and there have been confidence-building measures in communication between both the sides,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf any violation occurs, our response is always there \u2026 but it is only directed at those posts and those positions from where the violations of the ceasefire happen. We never target civilians. We never target any civil infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conflict potential persists<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a separate, the Pakistani military spokesman also warned of far-reaching consequences if India attempts to follow through on threats to cut Islamabad\u2019s share<\/a> of the Indus River water system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last month, New Delhi unilaterally suspended the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty<\/a>, blaming Pakistan for a deadly militant attack in Indian-Occupied Kashmir, an allegation Pakistan denies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTheir policy on Kashmir \u2014 of oppression and trying to internalise it \u2014 is not working,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTill the time Indians don\u2019t sit and talk about Kashmir, then (as) two countries sit, and we find a solution to it, the conflict potential is there.\u201d \u201cI hope that time doesn\u2019t come, but it will be such actions that the world will see and the consequences of that we will fight for years and decades to come,\u201d the army spokesperson said. \u201cNobody dares stop water from Pakistan.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The waters treaty, brokered by the World Bank, has survived multiple wars between the two neighbours and is considered one of the most successful water-sharing agreements globally. Its potential unravelling adds a dangerous new tier to an already volatile regional equation.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ISLAMABAD: A ceasefire reached between Pakistan and India following days of military confrontation does not have an expiry date, officials from both countries confirmed, putting to rest the speculations that the truce would lapse this weekend unless renewed. Rumours of a Sunday deadline gained traction after Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar told Pakistan\u2019s Senate last Thursday […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":9982,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[80,84,82,73],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia","category-india","category-paksitan","category-security"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9981"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9981"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9981\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}