[A formal handshake, Credit to Unsplash]

On May 10, India and Pakistan officially agreed to a ceasefire following 4 days of intensive artillery fire and drone warfare. 

Although the  violence has temporarily subsided, tensions between the two nations remain just as high, if not higher, than at any point in the past 75 years. 

The latest escalation began April 22 with a deadly terrorist attack carried out by Pakistani terrorists that hit the two contested border regions of Jammu and Kashmir in between India and Pakistan. 

With 26 fatalities, and numerous injuries, India was prompted to launch Operation Sindoor on May 7. 

The operation targeted terrorist infrastructure across Pakistan, Kashmir, and Jammu, firing at terrorist headquarters and training camps. 

Ultimately, the military offensive resulted in the deaths of over 100 terrorists reportedly affiliated with  three Pakistan-based Islamist separatist militant groups: Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and Hizbul Mujahideen. 

All three groups are primarily driven by their desire for the accession of Jammu and Kashmir into Pakistan.

In retaliation, Pakistan launched cross border shelling and drone attacks all across the Line of Control and other border areas. 

The Line of Control serves as the military demarcation between India and Pakistan, separating Jammu and Kashmir from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. 

The conflict only rapidly escalated over the course of early May, as India focused on coordinated strikes, damaging crucial radar systems, communication centers, and airfields at Pakistani air bases. 

The Indian government also indulged in non-militant measures. 

On May 8, the Indian government demanded platform X, formerly known as Twitter, to remove over 8000 accounts and block the Indian public’s access to international organization accounts or other prominent X users, threatening X with “significant fines and imprisonment of the company’s local employees.” 

Freedom of media was further undermined,  as prominent local journalist in Jammu and Kashmir, Hilal Mir, was arrested on charges of “disseminating content on social media to disturb peace” and journalists Muzamil Jaleel and Anuradha Bhasin had their accounts blocked. 

Propaganda also spread rampantly. 

An Indian Muslim teacher who was killed  in the Pakistani shelling was falsely portrayed as a “top Lashkar-e-Taiba commander” by one of India’s leading news channels despite everyone in his local community testifying against the posthumous accusation.

Such actions were not limited to India, however. 

In Pakistan as well, news channels narrated the country’s victory while sharing outdated images of the war in Gaza as evidence that Pakistan had bombed India. 

Between the two countries, this is far from an unprecedented confrontation. 

The hostilities are rooted in the 1947 Partition of British India, the establishment of a Muslim-majority Pakistan and Hindu-majority India, which split the region into two. 

When the more cosmopolitan regions of Jammu and Kashmir were offered the opportunity to choose a country to join, the voluntary accession of Kashmir to India, sought in response to incursions by Pakistani herders, catalyzed the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947-1948. 

Over the next decades, India and Pakistan continued to have border skirmishes, occasionally manifesting in full-scale conflicts like the war of 1965, 1971, and 1999. 

Fortunately, a ceasefire was reached on May 10. 

While full details of the negotiations remain unclear, it is confirmed that a “hotline” communication was initiated by a high-ranking Pakistani military official to his Indian counterpart. 

It also seems that throughout the conflict, there was intensive communication occurring. 

India’s director general of military operations, Rajiv Ghai, stated that India approached Pakistan on Wednesday following its initial strikes to “communicate [their] compulsions to strike at the heart of terror.” 

On May 8 and 9, India also requested a ceasefire after the start of their operation, but according to Pakistani’s General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, his country responded by saying that they would communicate following a retribution strike, both of which happened. 

Naturally, the conflict escalated, forcing diplomacy and intervention from numerous third-parties, including the United States, China and Saudi Arabia, who all aimed to negotiate an end to the fighting. 

On his Truth Social, US President Donald Trump claimed that the US had brokered an end to the fighting and seemingly praised Indian and Pakistani officials for “using common sense and great intelligence.”

In the aftermath of the conflict, every country involved has sought to frame the resolution as a diplomatic victory for themselves. 

Yet, a notable contrast lies in between Pakistan and India. 

India’s Foreign Ministry asserted that the agreement was negotiated “directly between the two countries,” minimizing US involvement and disputing Trump’s assertion. 

Meanwhile, Pakistani officials expressed appreciation. 

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif declared, “We thank President Trump for his leadership and proactive role for peace in the region.” 

Analysts suggest that this difference may lie in India’s self-perception as a strong rising global power and Pakistan’s long-time dependence on foreign aid. 

Yet, a critical question remains:  Will the conflict truly cease here? The elephant in the room when it comes to India and Pakistan is always the topic of nuclear warfare. 

Elizabeth Trelkeld, the Director of the South Asia Program at the Stimson Center, has said that “this [was] a nuclear flashpoint… with a real risk of breaking the nuclear taboo that has been in place since the end of World War 2,” a sentiment that Trump publicly expressed as well after the conflict was over. 

Muhammad Faisal, expert on Pakistan's foreign policy, cautioned that such conflict may have “less time” for international communities to “intervene and de-escalate” on its next occurrence. 

For now, it is evident that Operation Sindoor is not officially over. 

On May 12, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke nationally to the world that his military operations had only been “suspended” and that Indian armed forces would stay “constantly on alert.” 

With a grim expression, he stated, “Operation Sindoor is now India’s policy against terrorism… In the coming days, we will measure every step of Pakistan on the criterion of what sort of attitude Pakistan will adopt ahead.” 

For him, Pakistan’s destruction of all its terrorist infrastructure is his prerequisite to peace.  

Undeniably, a conflict deeply entrenched  in historical tensions and fueled by a plethora of motivations will be resolved so easily. 

Yet, the resolution of this current ceasefire and whether the temporary policy will diverge into sustainable peace or destructive violence, is something that the world will have to continue to watch for.