EXCLUSIVE | ‘Short, impolite’ chat: What India-Pak DGMOs discussed during first hotline call after ceasefire

Prime  Minister Narendra Modi’s forceful address and body language during his address to the nation on Monday night said it all—the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs)-level talks were yet to pacify India.

 

Put off by about five hours behind its scheduled time, the hotline conversation between the DGMOs on Monday evening was an impolite chat that continued for only a short time. 

 

“It was a very impolite conversation before the Indian DGMO issued a stern warning to his Pakistani counterpart that whatever needs to be done will be done if Pakistan doesn’t abide by the agreed terms of stoppage of firing,” a senior official source familiar with the developments told THE WEEK.

 

While both sides agreed to consider immediate measures to ensure troop reduction from the borders and forward areas, a few hours after the DGMO level talks, the Indian Army engaged a “small number “ of drones; "a small number of suspected drones being observed near Samba in Jammu” and also in Punjab’s Jalandhar.

 

The DGMO-level talks were initially scheduled for 12 noon on Monday, but were put off as the Pakistani side insisted on the inclusion of several other items on the agenda that were not agreeable to the Indians.

The items sought by the Pakistani side to be discussed included the resumption of the Indus Waters Treaty that was held in abeyance after the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22. But the Indian side pointed out that these items went beyond the military mandate.

 

“DGMOs have the mandate to talk only about operational details,” the source pointed out. The effort to expand the ambit of the talks may have been due to US President Donald Trump’s social media post that claimed credit for ‘brokering’ a ceasefire between the warring India and Pakistan militaries. It is a strong possibility that Islamabad got more than encouraged by Trump’s statement.

 

The talks included issues related to continuing the commitment that both sides must not fire a single shot or initiate any aggressive and inimical action against each other, but Monday night’s drone intrusion in Samba and Jalandhar can be construed as a flagrant violation, yet again of the agreed terms.

 

On Saturday, it was the Pakistan DGMO who had called up the Indian counterpart first, seeking talks to “stop all military actions, on land, at sea, in the air”. 

 

Hostilities had broken out between the two South Asian neighbours after Pakistan-backed terrorists gunned down 26 civilians in Kashmir’s Pahalgam on April 22. India hit back with strikes against terror camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and also deep inside Pakistan under a military operation codenamed ‘Sindoor’.

 

Counter-strikes by the Pakistan military had spiked tensions between the two nuclear-armed nations, raising global concerns. 

India