A ceasefire between India and Pakistan was holding on Sunday after both sides blamed the other for initial violations, as US President Donald Trump vowed to help the arch-rivals find a solution on the disputed Kashmir region.
The truce that took effect on Saturday followed four days of intense fighting between the nuclear-armed neighbors. In the worst fighting in nearly three decades, they fired missiles and drones at each other’s military installations, killing almost 70 people.
Diplomacy and pressure from the United States helped secure the ceasefire deal, but within hours of its coming into force, artillery fire was witnessed in Indian Kashmir, the center of much of last week’s fighting.
Blasts from air-defense systems boomed in cities near the border under a blackout, similar to those heard during the previous two evenings, according to local authorities, residents and Reuters witnesses.
Late on Saturday, India said Pakistan had violated the ceasefire. Pakistan said it was committed to the agreement and blamed India for the violations.
The fighting and explosions died down by dawn, according to Reuters witnesses, and power was restored in most border areas in India after a blackout on Saturday night.
India’s army chief on Sunday granted “full authority” to army commanders for “counteraction in the kinetic domain” to any violation of the “understanding” between the countries, the army said in a statement.
Trump praised the leaders of both countries for agreeing to halt the aggression and said he would “substantially” increase trade with them.
“I will work with you both to see if … a solution can be arrived at concerning Kashmir,” Trump added in a post on his Truth Social platform.
Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan each rule a part of Kashmir but claim it in full, and have twice gone to war over the Himalayan region.
India blames Pakistan for an insurgency in its part of the territory, but Pakistan says it provides only moral, political and diplomatic support to Kashmiri separatists.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry welcomed Trump’s statement and added that “any just and lasting settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute … must ensure the realization of the fundamental rights of the Kashmiri people, including their inalienable right to self-determination.”
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in a post on the X platform that he was “extremely grateful” to Trump for his “most valuable offer to play a greater role in bringing lasting peace to South Asia.”
