India denied targeting Pakistan’s alleged nuclear installations as the federal territory of Jammu and Kashmir observed the first peaceful night in days following a temporary truce between the two nations after days of military escalations.
The night remained mostly peaceful in Jammu and Kashmir and other areas along the international border, the Indian Army said, adding there were no reported incidents of military action on the “first calm night in recent days”.
The military operations chiefs of both India and Pakistan will resume talks on Monday on the next steps to ensure peace between the two nuclear-armed rivals.
Air Marshal Awadhesh Kumar Bharti said India went over 150km inside Pakistan to strike Muilir Cantonment in Karachi city. The Air Force also targeted a radar site in Lahore city and another site close to Gujranwala in Punjab province.
Dismissing speculations, the Air Marshal claimed India did not target Kirana Hills, which allegedly houses some of Pakistan’s nuclear installations. “Thank you for telling us that Kirana Hills houses some nuclear installation, we did not know about it. We have not hit Kirana Hills, whatever is there,” Air Marshal Bharti retorted following a reporter’s question.
“We also reiterated that our fight was with terrorists and their support infrastructure and not with the Pakistan military. However, it is a pity that the Pakistan military chose to intervene and bat for the terrorists, which compelled us to respond in kind,” he added.
US president Donald Trump over the weekend pledged to find a solution to the long-running Kashmir dispute after the South Asian nations reached a ceasefire on Saturday afternoon, for which he took credit.
The truce announced on Saturday followed four days of intense fighting between the neighbours in one of the largest military escalations in nearly three decades, killing almost 70 people.
The Indian military on Monday released videos to claim it shot down a Pakistani Mirage fighter jet and damaged military bases during its “Operation Sindoor”. India launched airstrikes on Pakistani soil to avenge the killing of 26 people in the Pahalgam valley of India-administered Kashmir in one of the worst attacks on tourists in decades.
India’s military has claimed the strikes into Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir last week killed more than 100 militants, including prominent leaders.
Both India and Pakistan claimed to have downed each other’s jets in a dog-fight that reportedly involved around 125 jets – the largest aerial combat since World War Two.
Lt Gen Rajiv Ghai, the director general of military operations, on Sunday said India’s Armed Forces struck nine militant infrastructure and training facilities, including sites of the Lashkar-e-Taiba group that India blames for carrying out major militant strikes in India and the disputed region of Kashmir.
“We achieved total surprise,” Lt Gen Ghai told reporters in New Delhi, adding Pakistan’s response was “erratic and rattled”.
India accused Pakistan of backing the militants who carried out the massacre, a charge Islamabad denied. The incident first led to a spat of tit-for-tat diplomatic measures by both the nations, sending their bilateral ties to a near-historic low.
The two expelled each other’s diplomats, shut their airspace, land borders, and suspended a crucial water treaty.
After Wednesday’s strikes in Pakistan, both sides exchanged heavy fires along their de facto border in the restive Kashmir region followed by missile and drone strikes into each other’s territories, mainly targeting military installations and airbases. Dozens of civilians were killed on both the sides in heavy shelling, the two countries said.
The Indian Army claimed 35-40 personnel of the Pakistan Armed Forces had been killed at the Line of Control, the de facto border that divides the Kashmir region.
Air Marshal Bharti earlier said India “definitely we have downed a few planes”, without revealing the actual number or offering evidence. “There are loses from their sides which we have inflicted,” he said.
He refused to comment on Pakistani claims of shooting down five Indian fighter jets, including a French-made Rafale, but said “we are in a combat scenario and losses are a part of combat”.
Pakistan’s military on Sunday told reporters it did not ask for a ceasefire, as claimed by India, but rather it was India that had sought the ceasefire.
Lt Gen Ahmad Sharif said Pakistan’s armed forces targeted a total of 26 Indian military installations in response to India’s missile strikes which were launched before dawn Wednesday.
He said the military had vowed it would respond to the Indian aggression, and it has fulfilled its commitment to the nation. Lt Gen Sharif warned that any threat to Pakistan’s sovereignty or territorial integrity would be met with a “comprehensive, retributive, and decisive” response.
He claimed Pakistan exercised “maximum restraint” during the counterstrike, employing medium-range missiles and other munitions, and that no civilian areas were targeted inside India.
Pakistan’s information minister Attaullah Tarar last week alleged his country’s armed forces had killed 40 to 50 Indian soldiers along the Line of Control.
People on both sides of the border reported heavy exchanges of fire between Indian and Pakistani troops, which subsided by Sunday morning.
In the Poonch area of Indian-administered Kashmir, people said the intense shelling from the past few days had traumatised them. “Most people ran as shells were being fired,” said college student Sosan Zehra, who returned home Sunday. “It was completely chaotic”.
As part of the ceasefire, both nations agreed to immediately stop all military action on land, in the air and at sea. Pakistan has thanked the US, and especially President Trump, several times for facilitating the ceasefire.
The Indian military sent a “hotline message” to Pakistan with complaints of violations of the ceasefire, which Pakistan denied flouting.
India has not said anything about Mr Trump or the US since the deal was announced. Indian prime minister Narendra Modi chaired a meeting on Sunday with top government and military officials.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio said he spoke with British foreign secretary David Lammy and discussed the ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan, and called for both countries to maintain the ceasefire and to continue to communicate. Mr Rubio said the US supported direct dialogue between India and Pakistan and encouraged continued efforts to improve communications.
