THE country’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi was set to address the nation for the first time since a weekend ceasefire with Pakistan that brought the nuclear-armed rivals back from the brink of all-out war.
Modi’s office said the television address would start at 8pm (1430 GMT) yesterday. The heads of military operations of India and Pakistan were also set to review the truce later yesterday.
US President Donald Trump announced the truce late Saturday after four days of missile, drone and artillery attacks which killed at least 60 people and sent thousands fleeing on both sides.
The phone call between the heads of military operations comes after the Indian army reported the “first calm night in recent days” in Kashmir and along its western border with Pakistan.
Initially the conversation had been due to take place at 12pm (0630 GMT) yesterday but Indian officials said it had been delayed to the evening.
Abdul Basit at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore said it would be about modalities of the ceasefire and not policy decisions.
The aim is to “avoid any miscalculations, because right now one spark could quickly move towards a nuclear catastrophe,” Basit said.
The flare-up in violence was the worst since the rivals’ last open conflict in 1999 and sparked global shudders that it could spiral into full-blown war.
There were initial doubts as the rivals accused each other of breaching the ceasefire just hours after it was unexpectedly announced by Trump online.
“The night remained largely peaceful across... Kashmir and other areas along the international border,” the Indian army said.
“No incidents have been reported, marking the first calm night in recent days.”
India reopened 32 airports yesterday that had been closed due to the conflict, authorities said.
Top India and Pakistan military officials held briefings late Sunday, with each claiming the upper hand and warning they were ready to respond if there were fresh attacks.
“We have delivered the promise we made to our people,” Pakistan’s military spokesman Lt-Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry stated, calling it a “success on the battleground”.
“We re-established deterrence and neutralised key threats,” Pakistani Air Vice Marshal Ahmed Aurangzeb told reporters.
“We have thus far exercised immense restraint so far and our actions have been focused, measured and non-escalatory,” said Indian Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai.
But he added: “Any threat to the sovereignty, territorial integrity and safety of our citizens will be met with decisive force.”
It was also the second straight night without gunfire or shelling at Poonch, a frontier town in the part of divided Kashmir administered by India.
Poonch was one of the worst-hit places in India, with at least 12 residents killed and most of the estimated 60,000 residents fleeing their homes.
On Sunday, people started trickling back, although many were still jittery about the ceasefire.
Thousands of schools remained closed across Pakistan-administered Kashmir as areas were cleared of debris from strikes and firing, said local official Naveed-Ul-Hassan Bukhari. — AFP
