Pakistanis displaying victory signs stand atop a tank as they celebrate the ceasefire between Pakistan and India in Multan, on May 10, 2025. (Credit: Shahid Saeed Mirza/AFP.)
Pakistan handed over an Indian soldier on Wednesday who was captured on its territory, a new sign of easing tensions between the two nuclear powers, just out of their most severe military confrontation in two decades.
An agreement was reached Saturday after four days of missile, artillery, and drone attacks and counterattacks across their border. The cease-fire between the two countries has been largely observed since.
On Wednesday, Islamabad handed over to New Delhi a border guard who was captured the day after the deadly attack on April 22 in Indian Kashmir, which brought the two countries to the brink of open war.
The soldier, Purnam Kumar Shaw, accidentally found himself in Pakistani territory while on a mission in the Ferozepur sector on April 23, 2025, according to the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) command.
On the night of May 6-7, India launched missiles at Pakistani sites it claims harbor rebels linked to the jihadist group it suspects of carrying out the attack that killed 26 people on April 22 in Pahalgam.
Pakistan, which denied any responsibility for this attack, immediately retaliated.
For four days, the two armies exchanged artillery fire, missile strikes, and drone attacks until a cease-fire was surprisingly announced Saturday by U.S. President Donald Trump.
In its latest report published Tuesday, the Pakistani army claimed that the fighting had caused the death of 40 civilians, including 15 children.
India reported 16 civilians and five soldiers killed on its territory.
Senior officials from both armies spoke by phone Monday evening about the military situation at the border.
According to the Indian military, they agreed to consider immediate measures to reduce the number of soldiers deployed on the borders.
- 'Provocative' -
Despite this easing of tensions at the front, the rhetoric remained very martial, with both India and Pakistan asserting that they were not letting their guard down.
"If another terrorist attack targets India, we will respond firmly," warned Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a Hindu ultranationalist, in a Monday evening speech to the nation.
The Pakistani Foreign Ministry called Mr. Modi's speech provocative and filled with false narratives to justify aggression.
"Any new attempt to challenge Pakistan's sovereignty or territorial integrity will elicit a quick, comprehensive, and decisive response," Pakistani military emphasized.
India and Pakistan have disputed the sovereignty of all Kashmir since their bloody partition at their independence in 1947.
The fate of this Himalayan territory, mostly populated by Muslims, has sparked several wars between the two countries. Since 1989, its Indian part has been the scene of a deadly separatist insurgency.
Despite a U.S. invitation to negotiate on the subject with Islamabad, Narendra Modi categorically excluded any discussion Monday evening in his speech.
As a sign of a gradual return to normalcy, schools have reopened on both sides of the border.
"Shells fell near our house, which was hit by shrapnel, but I told my family I was going back to school... I'm not afraid," said Syeda Zohra Kazmi, a 13-year-old Pakistani student from Chakothi, to AFP.
On the Indian side, tens of thousands of residents who fled the bombs have begun returning to their villages. Many of them still harbor fear.
"I'm in a hurry to return because if I don't open my shop, I lose money," said Krishan Lal, a 50-year-old tailor living in a refugee camp in Jammu. "But many think the war isn't over."
