India, Pakistan agree to unconditional ceasefire; Indus Water Treaty to remain in abeyance

NEW DELHI: After days of mounting escalation between India and Pakistan, both countries agreed on Saturday to a ceasefire, halting all military action across land, air, and sea. The decision carries no preconditions, either before or after the agreement. It is also included that the Indus Water Treaty shall remain in abeyance, as MEA sources confirmed

All the retaliatory measures announced against Pakistan on April 23 will remain in place.

After the terror attack in Pahalgam on April 22, India took several strong steps against Pakistan for supporting cross-border terrorism .

One key move was putting the ' Indus Waters Treaty ' on hold. This agreement, signed in 1960 after nine years of negotiation between India and Pakistan, with help from the World Bank. The pact decides how the water from the Indus River system is shared.

Under the treaty, Pakistan gets the western rivers, Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab -- while India gets the eastern rivers -- Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej. India is also allowed to use a small share, 20 per cent of water from the Indus system, while Pakistan gets the rest.

Today at 3:35pm, Pakistan’s top military officer for border operations called his Indian counterpart. Both sides agreed to stop all military action - on land, in the air, and at sea, starting at 5pm today.

Ealier in the day, foreign secretary Vikram Misri said the ceasefire was agreed upon during a call initiated by Pakistan’s Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) to his Indian counterpart at 15:35 hours IST. "Instructions have been given on both sides to give effect to this understanding. They will talk again on the 12th of May at 1200 hours," Misri said.

The ceasefire follows heightened tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours, triggered by a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam on April 22, which claimed 26 lives. India responded with a major counterterror operation, ' Operation Sindoor ', on May 7, targeting multiple terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

As part of its retaliation, Pakistan launched a wave of drone attacks targeting India’s border states. However, the Indian defence systems intercepted and neutralised most of these aerial threats, preventing any loss of life or property.