Pakistan signals willingness to halt hostilities if India reciprocates, urges de-escalation

Pakistan has indicated a potential willingness to pause military operations if India does the same, offering a rare opening for de-escalation amid rapidly intensifying hostilities between the two nuclear-armed neighbors.

“If India stops here, then we will consider to stop here,” Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar stated as he spoke to local television, Caliber.Az reports citing foreign media.

His remarks come as international calls grow for both sides to exercise restraint and avoid further confrontation.

Dar also disclosed that he had communicated Pakistan’s position directly to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, emphasizing that the onus for de-escalation lies with New Delhi. “The ball is in India’s court,” Dar reportedly told Rubio, urging Washington to press India to pull back from the brink.

In a statement, the US State Department confirmed that Secretary Rubio had urged both India and Pakistan to pursue immediate avenues for de-escalation and to re-establish direct channels of communication to prevent potential miscalculations that could spiral into a broader conflict.

In New Delhi, the Indian military reiterated its stance that it would not escalate the conflict further—provided that position is reciprocated by Pakistan. The Indian government reported limited damage to military infrastructure and personnel following Pakistani strikes on several installations but emphasized that operations remain contained.

India also strongly denied claims that its missiles had struck targets in Afghanistan, dismissing the allegations as “false and baseless.”

The current crisis was ignited by a deadly attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir last month, which New Delhi blames on Pakistan-based militants. In response, India launched “Operation Sindoor”, targeting what it describes as “terrorist infrastructure” in both Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir—sparking a cycle of retaliatory strikes.

In the latest developments, Pakistan announced the launch of a military operation against India early on May 10.

The operation targeted several sites, including a missile storage facility in northern India, as tensions between the neighbouring countries escalated to their most intense level in almost 30 years.

Earlier, Pakistan's military had confirmed the initiation of strikes against Indian military sites under the operation "Bunyan Marsoos," following a series of attacks on three Pakistani airbases by Indian "air-to-surface missiles." The escalation comes after tensions between the two nations heightened earlier this week.

By Vafa Guliyeva