India and Pakistan agree to halt military action

India and Pakistan agreed on 10 May 2025 to halt military action after several days of strikes, air combat, artillery fire and drone activity. Senior military operations officials spoke by telephone and set a time for stopping firing and attacks on land, in the air and at sea.

United States President Donald Trump announced the ceasefire before both South Asian governments publicly confirmed it and credited US mediation. India emphasized direct military-to-military communication, while Pakistan acknowledged diplomatic efforts by several states. The degree of external mediation should therefore remain attributed rather than simplified into one uncontested account.

Explosions and accusations of violations were reported around the start, but the larger exchange subsided. A halt in military action was not a peace treaty and did not resolve Kashmir, attribution for the Pahalgam attack or other bilateral disputes.

The conflict involved nuclear-armed states, raising concern about escalation even when both described actions as limited. Nuclear risk does not prove that leaders intended nuclear use, but it increases the stakes of miscalculation and communication.

This item records the operative cessation, separate from India's 7 May strikes and later diplomatic engagement. It avoids claiming permanent peace or endorsing one government's narrative of victory. The verified result was a mutually communicated stop to the immediate cross-border military exchange.

Existing hotline mechanisms between military directors provided a route to halt fire even while public leaders traded accusations. Maintaining communication is an observable risk-reduction measure, not evidence that the underlying political relationship had normalized.