Ceasefire agreement between Pakistan and India is holding: Foreign Minister Dar

Islamabad: The ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan is holding and the military-to-military engagements between the two sides via Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) are progressing smoothly, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said Thursday.

"The ceasefire is holding and it is not suspended or (is) a temporary  (arrangement),” Dar, who is also the Deputy Prime Minister, said while addressing a news conference on his return from China.

He said the military-to-military engagements via DGMOs are progressing smoothly, state-run Radio Pakistan reported.

India on May 7 destroyed nine terror infrastructures in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir under Operation Sindoor.

Following the Indian action, Pakistan attempted to attack Indian military bases on May 8, 9 and 10. The Indian forces launched a fierce counter-attack on several Pakistani military installations.

The two sides reached an understanding on cessation of hostilities on May 10 after four days of confrontations.

On Sunday, the Indian Army said there is "no expiry date" to the understanding reached between Indian and Pakistani DGMOs on cessation of hostilities.

In his media interaction, Dar claimed that Pakistan successfully countered the Indian narrative and offered an international investigation into the Pahalgam incident, which India declined, Radio Pakistan reported.

Dar termed the Indian defence minister's recent statement as "unfortunate and regrettable", saying that Pakistan desires peace.

“However, we will always defend our sovereignty with full might whenever challenged,” he said.

He claimed that Pakistan showed "maximum restraint" and is not making any escalatory move.

Responding to a question, Dar said the venue of dialogue between Pakistan and India would be decided with the consensus.

Commenting on the Khuzdar attack, which claimed the lives of children, he said that the perpetrators behind the attack are being traced and will be brought to justice.

On his three-day trip to China, Dar said he paid a special visit to Beijing at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi. He termed the visit as "highly successful".

“I held important meetings with Chinese delegations on Tuesday. I attended a trilateral meeting of the foreign ministers of Pakistan, China and Afghanistan on Wednesday. In the trilateral meeting, we discussed Afghan refugees, the regional situation and trade,” he said.

He said Pakistan achieved significant progress on diplomatic, strategic and economic fronts during the engagements in Beijing.

Talking about the trilateral meeting involving Pakistan, China and Afghanistan, he said that the three countries agreed to uproot terrorism.  "We agreed to eradicate terrorism and that with both China and Afghanistan that no terrorist organization, whether TTP, BLA or others, would be allowed to use any other country's soil against another," he said.

Dar also said the three countries agreed to extend the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor to Afghanistan.

“We have decided to expand CPEC, which is a part of the Belt and Road Initiative, to Afghanistan,” he said, adding that China also agreed to construct a highway from Peshawar to Kabul, which will boost the overall performance of Gwadar Port.

Dar said China had expressed its intent to finance the Pakistan-Afghanistan-Uzbekistan Railway Project, which is a transformative step for regional connectivity.