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Trump Announces India-Pakistan Ceasefire

State of the Union: The two nuclear-armed nations had been locked in an escalating conflict.
INDIA-US-DIPLOMACY-TRUMP
U.S. President Donald Trump and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrive for a joint press conference at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on February 25, 2020. (Prakash Singh/AFP via Getty Images)
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After days of escalating violence and growing fears of nuclear war, India and Pakistan have agreed to an immediate ceasefire, President Donald Trump announced Saturday on Truth Social. Trump said the truce was reached after “a long night of talks mediated by the United States.”

Both Islamabad and New Delhi have confirmed the news, with India’s foreign secretary clarifying the ceasefire began at 5 p.m. local time (7:30 a.m. ET), about a half hour before Trump’s post.

Fighting between the nations broke out on Wednesday, when Indian missiles struck Pakistan in retaliation for a terrorist attack late last month in Kashmir, which New Delhi administers. The strikes prompted tit-for-tat attacks that escalated through early Saturday, with both countries using drones, fighter jets, and long-range missiles.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio revealed Saturday on X that he and Vice President J.D. Vance had “engaged with senior Indian and Pakistani officials” over the past 48 hours to de-escalate tensions.

The news of a ceasefire will come as a huge relief to the international community. Long-time rivals, India and Pakistan possess nuclear weapons and had seemed locked in an escalation spiral with no off-ramp. Hours before the truce, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had called a meeting of the government body responsible for decisions related to nuclear weapons.

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