India, May 11 -- For four days, spiralling hostilities between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan had the world on edge. But the end came swiftly, via a phone call at 3.35pm on Saturday.

The cessation of hostilities was achieved after a call from Pakistan director general of military operations, Major General Kashif Abdullah, to his Indian counterpart, Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai. 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.

To be sure, Pakistan "breached" agreement later in the evening, as acknowledged by India's foreign secretary Vikram Misri.

India's strategic strikes on Pakistani military installations and the US'...