India, Pak Military Officials To Discuss Next Steps As Ceasefire Holds

The military operations chiefs of India and Pakistan are set to discuss on Monday the next steps for the nuclear-armed neighbours, India said, as a ceasefire returned calm to the border, and their equity markets edged higher.

There were no reports of explosions or projectiles overnight, after some initial ceasefire violations, with the Indian Army saying Sunday was the first peaceful night in recent days along the border, although some schools remain closed.

Saturday's ceasefire in the Himalayan region, first announced by US President Donald Trump, followed four days of intense firing and diplomacy and pressure from Washington.

India's military sent a "hotline" message to Pakistan on Sunday about the previous day's ceasefire violations, flagging New Delhi's intent to respond to further such incidents, a top Indian army officer said.

A spokesman for Pakistan's military denied any violations.

In a statement on Saturday, India's foreign ministry said both sides' director generals of military operations would speak with each other on Monday at 1200 hours (0630 GMT).

Pakistan did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the talks.

Pakistan had targeted military installations and civilian areas in India with missiles and drones, after which India struck Pakistani airfields in retaliation, as relations turned sour after India blamed Pakistan for the Pahalgam attack that killed 26 tourists.

Pakistan had denied the accusations and called for a neutral investigation.

India said it launched strikes on nine terrorist infrastructure sites in Pakistan and Pakistani-Occupied Kashmir (POK) on Wednesday.

Pakistan halted trading on Monday for an hour after its benchmark share index rose nearly 9%, having recovered most of its losses in the past three sessions after India's strikes.

Late on Friday, the International Monetary Fund approved a fresh $1.4-billion loan to Pakistan under its climate resilience fund and approved the first review of its $7 billion program.

Indian benchmarks jumped about 2.5% in early trade, after the Nifty index lost 1.5% in the prior three sessions.

While Islamabad has thanked Washington for facilitating the ceasefire and welcomed Trump's offer to mediate on the Kashmir dispute with India, New Delhi has not commented on US involvement in the truce or talks at a neutral site.

New Delhi maintains that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India. It says disputes with Pakistan have to be resolved directly by the neighbours and had earlier rejected the involvement of any third party.

The Congress, which had backed Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the April 22 attack, called for a special parliament session on the latest developments with Pakistan.