India, May 10 -- The cessation of hostilities between India and Pakistan was achieved after a call from the Pakistan DGMO Major General Kashif Abdullah to his Indian counterpart, Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai early in the afternoon of Saturday. The former's offer to stop the firing and the air attacks was met with the response that India too would do the same, people directly familiar with the matter said.

They added that while representatives from the US and various other countries had indeed spoken to top Indian officials including foreign minister S Jaishankar and NSA Ajit Doval, there was no interaction between the foreign ministers of the two countries, nor between the NSAs. This was only fitting, the people said, pointing out that ...