First night of peace as India-Pak ceasefire holds; DGMOs to discuss next steps today

Jammu: The military operations chiefs of India and Pakistan will discuss on Monday the next steps for the nuclear-armed neighbours after a ceasefire returns calm to the border, following their fiercest fighting in nearly three decades.

There were no reports of explosions or projectiles overnight, after some initial ceasefire violations, with the Indian Army saying Sunday was the first peaceful night in recent days along the border, although some schools remain closed.

Saturday's ceasefire in the Himalayan region, announced by US President Donald Trump, followed four days of intense firing and diplomacy and pressure from Washington.

India's military sent a hotline message to Pakistan on Sunday about the previous day's ceasefire violations, flagging New Delhi's intent to respond to further such incidents, a top Indian army officer said.

A spokesman for Pakistan's military denied any violations.

In a statement on Saturday, India's foreign ministry said both sides' director generals of military operations would speak with each other on Monday at 1200 hours.

Pakistan has not made any comment on plans for a call.

Indian strikes at Pakistan's military installations came in response to the Pahalgam terror attack which claimed the lives of 26 tourists.

Pakistan also attempted to attack India's military stations across borders towns in North and Western India.

Pakistan denies the accusations of the terror attack and has called for a neutral investigation.

India said it launched strikes on nine 'terrorist infrastructure' sites in Pakistan and Pakistani Occupied Kashmir (PoK) on Wednesday, but Islamabad claimed those were civilian sites.

Pakistan halted trading on Monday for an hour after its benchmark share index rose nearly 9 per cent, having recovered most of its losses in the past three sessions.

Late on Friday, the International Monetary Fund approved a fresh $1.4-billion loan to Pakistan under its climate resilience fund and approved the first review of its $7 billion program.

Indian benchmarks jumped about 2.5 per cent in early trade, after the Nifty index lost 1.5 per cent in the prior three sessions. Worries about the conflict also erased $83 billion from equities in the two days until Friday.

While Islamabad has thanked Washington for facilitating the ceasefire and welcomed Trump's offer to mediate on the Kashmir dispute with India, New Delhi has not commented on US involvement in the truce or talks at a neutral site.

Congress party, which had backed Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the April 22 attack, called for a special parliament session on the latest developments with Pakistan.

"The government should also give its stand on the statements made by America on the Kashmir issue, as this is a bilateral issue," Congress leader Sachin Pilot said in a post on X on Sunday.

India, which says disputes with Pakistan have to be resolved directly by the neighbours, has rejected the involvement of any third party.

India blames Pakistan for an insurgency in its part of Kashmir that began in 1989, but Pakistan says it provides only moral, political and diplomatic support.