India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said his country will respond strongly to what he describes as a future “terrorist attack”, after four days of military exchanges with neighbouring Pakistan.
“This is not an era of war, but this is also not an era of terror,” Modi said in his first public address since days of intense shelling and aerial incursions, carried out by both sides, began.
These followed a militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that killed 26 people, for which India blamed a Pakistan-based group. Islamabad has strongly denied backing the group in question.
The US-brokered ceasefire agreed between the nuclear-armed neighbours at the weekend appears to have held so far.
Both nations say they remain vigilant.
“If another terrorist attack against India is carried out, a strong response will be given,” Modi said in his speech on Monday.
“Terror and trade talks cannot happen together,” he remarked. This was most likely a reference to comments from US President Donald Trump, who said he had told India and Pakistan his administration would only trade with them if they end the conflict.
“Water and blood cannot flow together,” Modi added, this time referring to the suspension of a water treaty between India and Pakistan.
His comments come after Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday said that his country had “acted as a responsible state”, adding: “Our honour, our dignity and our self-respect are more precious to us than our lives.”
He said he believed the water issue with India would be resolved through peaceful negotiations.
Earlier on Monday, top military officials from India and Pakistan discussed finer details of the ceasefire agreed between them over the weekend.
According to the Indian army, the two sides spoke about the need to refrain from any aggressive action.
“It was also agreed that both sides consider immediate measures to ensure troop reduction from the borders and forward areas,” it said in a statement.
India also announced it was reopening 32 airports for civilians that it had earlier said would remain closed until Thursday due to safety concerns.
The recent tensions were the latest in the decades-long rivalry between India and Pakistan, who have fought two wars over Kashmir, a Himalayan region which they claim in full but administer in part.
The hostilities threatened to turn into a fully-fledged war as they appeared unwilling to back down for days.
Both countries have said that dozens of people from both sides died over the four days of fighting last week, partly due to heavy shelling near the de facto border.
Announcing the ceasefire on Saturday, Trump said “it was time to stop the current aggression that could have led to the death and destruction of so many, and so much”.
Both India and Pakistan declared military victory after it came into effect.
On 7 May, India reported striking nine targets inside Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir in response to the 22 April deadly militant attack in the picturesque Pahalgam valley.
In the days after the first strike, India and Pakistan accused each other of cross-border shelling and claimed to have shot down rival drones and aircraft in their airspace.
As the conflict escalated, both nations said they had struck the rival’s military bases.
Indian officials reported striking 11 Pakistan Air Force bases, including one in Rawalpindi, near the capital Islamabad. India also claimed Pakistan lost 35-40 men at the Line of Control – the de facto border – during the conflict and that its air force lost a few aircraft.
Pakistan has accepted that some Indian projectiles landed at its air force bases.
Indian defence forces have also said that they struck nine armed group training facilities in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, killing more than 100 militants.
The Pakistan military, in turn, claims it targeted about 26 military facilities in India and that its drones hovered over the capital, Delhi.
India has confirmed that some Pakistani projectiles landed up at its air force bases, though it did not comment on the claim about Delhi.
Pakistan also claims to have shot down five Indian aircraft, including three French Rafales – India has not acknowledged this or commented on the number, though it said on Sunday that “losses are a part of combat”.
Pakistan denied the claims that an Indian pilot was in its custody after she ejected following an aircraft crash. India has also said that “all our pilots are back home”.
