Operation Sindoor: Why a fragile pause in India-Pak firing across LoC doesn’t make it 'ceasefire'?

In a hurriedly-called media briefing at about 6pm on a muggy Saturday evening, Indian foreign secretary Vikram Misri announced a "stop all firing and military action on land and in the air” but stopped short of using the word ‘ceasefire’, which technically, the pause in the ensuing fighting is. That very fact underlines the fragility of the agreement between India and Pakistan to stop all firing.

 

Most importantly, the achievement of the military objectives that India may have had in mind while launching 'Operation Sindoor' on May 7 had been negated by an escalatory reaction by Pakistan. While the Directors General of Military Operations of the two countries are to meet again on May 12 at 1200 hours, the cessation of hostilities is going to be an uphill task, given that the military objectives were not entirely met.

 

There are also unconfirmed reports that the Indian military and security leadership were not quite agreeable to a stop to firing, as considerable headway could have been made in advancing India’s strategic interests.

But within hours of Misri’s announcement, there were reports of drone incursions and attacks by Pakistan and counter-firing by Indian air defence guns as the sound of guns and air defence batteries continued to thunder in the night air in Jammu, Srinagar and other locations. Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah posted on the social media platform ‘X’: “What the hell just happened to the ceasefire? Explosions heard across Srinagar”.

 

While the Indian military establishment was in pains trying to deny the reports of the violations as opposed to eyewitness and ground zero reporting, Misri, soon enough, put out a statement at night where he certainly didn’t mince any words while stating that the firing was a “breach of the understanding” arrived at earlier: “For the last few hours, there have been repeated violations of the understanding arrived at earlier this evening between the DGMO of India and Pakistan…,” he said.

“…we take very very serious note of these violations. We call upon Pakistan to take appropriate steps to address these violations and deal with the situation with seriousness and responsibility.”

 

Significantly, there was nothing about going back on the abeyance of the Indus Water Treaty at the moment, nor on the visa curbs and other measures announced after the April 22 Pahalgam carnage. So those measures stay for the time being.

India