Calm along India and Pakistan borders as truce holds

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NEW DELHI — Indian and Pakistani authorities said on Monday that there were no reported incidents of firing overnight along the heavily militarized region between their countries, the first time in recent days that the two nations were not shooting at each other.

India and Pakistan on Saturday reached an understanding to stop all military actions on land, in the air and at sea, in a ceasefire to stop escalating hostilities between the two nuclear-armed neighbors that threatened regional peace.

"The night remained largely peaceful across Kashmir, and other areas along the international border," the Indian army said, adding that no incidents had been reported.

The military operations chiefs of India and Pakistan held talks by phone on Monday evening, news channel CNN-News18 reported.

The talks were expected to assess if the ceasefire was holding. There were fears it would not hold after both sides accused each other of violations just hours after it was announced.

Local government officials in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir reported no incidents of cross-border firing along the Line of Control and said civilians displaced by recent skirmishes between Pakistani and Indian forces were returning to their homes.

Pakistan's military spokesman Ahmad Sharif said on Sunday that Pakistan remains committed to upholding the ceasefire and will not be the first to violate it.

Beijing on Monday expressed support to and welcomed the ceasefire, saying it is ready to further play a constructive role in realizing a comprehensive and enduring truce.

"The realization of a ceasefire between India and Pakistan serves the fundamental and long-term interests of both India and Pakistan. It is conducive to the peace and stability of the region, and it also meets the general expectations of the international community," Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said at a news conference in Beijing.

India and Pakistan are neighbors who cannot move away from each other, and they both are also China's neighbors, Lin said.

Restraint urged

"Since tension flared between India and Pakistan, China has been in close communication with the relevant parties, calling upon India and Pakistan to keep calm, exercise restraint and avoid escalation of the situation," he said.

Beijing expects New Delhi and Islamabad to build on and continue the momentum of the ceasefire, avoid a resurgence of the conflict, properly settle their differences through dialogue and negotiation, and return to the track of political settlement, he said.

The militaries of the two countries have been engaged in one of their most serious confrontations in decades since Wednesday, when India struck targets inside Pakistan that it said were affiliated with militants responsible for the massacre of 26 tourists in India-controlled Kashmir.

India accused Pakistan of backing the militants who carried out the massacre, a charge Islamabad denied.

After Wednesday's strikes in Pakistan, both sides exchanged heavy fires along their de facto border in the disputed territory of Kashmir. Dozens of civilians were killed on both sides in heavy shelling, the two countries said.

The Indian military claimed for the first time on Sunday that its strikes into Pakistan-controlled Kashmir and Pakistan last week killed more than 100 militants, including prominent leaders.

Zhang Yunbi in Beijing contributed to this story.

Agencies Via Xinhua