India and Pakistan held their first direct military talks on Monday following a tense ceasefire brokered over the weekend after a dangerous escalation between the two nuclear-armed nations.
Major General Kashif Abdullah, Pakistan’s Director General of Military Operations (DGMO), and his Indian counterpart, Lt Gen Rajiv Ghai, spoke via a military hotline to discuss ways to de-escalate the situation and maintain the fragile peace. This comes after a temporary ceasefire was announced on Saturday, reportedly with the involvement of U.S. President Donald Trump, following four days of intense cross-border missile and drone attacks that killed dozens of civilians.
Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar confirmed the conversation and added that another round of talks is expected within the next 48 hours. He described the temporary ceasefire until then as “standard procedure.”
Both Indian and Pakistani state media, along with Reuters, confirmed the dialogue took place. According to the Indian Army, the two sides agreed not to engage in any aggressive actions and discussed reducing military presence along the borders to ease tensions.
The latest round of hostilities was sparked by a deadly attack on April 22 in Indian-administered Kashmir, which killed 26 people. India blamed the incident on cross-border militants, a claim Pakistan strongly denied, calling for an impartial investigation instead. India responded with strikes on May 6–7 that led to several civilian deaths in Pakistan.
India sent a hotline message on Sunday accusing Pakistan of violating the ceasefire, but Islamabad dismissed the claims as baseless. Despite the recent conflict, India has now reopened 32 airports that were closed during the clashes, while Pakistan had already reopened its airspace on Saturday. Some schools in affected areas remain closed, and access to certain public places like the airport in Amritsar remains restricted.
