India-Pakistan ceasefire holds, fragile
- India suspended the Indus Waters Treaty this week after the Pahalgam massacre killed 28 civilians, prompting Pakistan to warn of war over any water cutoff. - Satellite images show Jaish-e-Mohammad rebuilding its Bahawalpur headquarters and clearing a Muzaffarabad camp destroyed in India's Operation Sindoor last year. - A year into the Line of Control ceasefire, Pakistan aided a stranded Indian vessel with its ship Kashmir, but UN debates highlight the truce's fragility.
India and Pakistan's ceasefire along the Line of Control — their heavily militarized Kashmir border — marked one year this spring with fewer shootings. But New Delhi just suspended the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, a core pact dividing river waters, after militants killed 28 in the Pahalgam massacre. Pakistan calls any water blockade an act of war. Meanwhile, satellite shots catch terror groups rebuilding — and one kind gesture stands out amid the tension. The truce holds, barely. ### What sparked the ceasefire a year ago? Tensions boiled over in early 2025 when India launched Operation Sindoor — airstrikes on Jaish-e-Mohammed camps in Pakistan after a Kashmir attack. Pakistan shot down Indian jets. Both sides traded fire across the LOC for weeks. A U.S.-brokered de-escalation stopped it cold by May 2025. Cross-border fire dropped 90% since — the quietest in decades. But trust never rebuilt. ### What's the Pahalgam massacre? Gunmen ambushed tourists in Pahalgam, a Kashmir resort town, killing 28 — mostly Indian civilians — on May 1, 2026. India blames Jaish-e-Mohammed, a Pakistan-based group designated terrorist by the UN. No claim of responsibility yet. It's the deadliest civilian attack in Kashmir since the ceasefire. Modi government points to it as proof Pakistan harbors militants. ### Why suspend the Indus Waters Treaty now? The treaty allocates Indus River basin waters — India gets three eastern rivers, Pakistan the vital western six. Suspension lets India hold back flows without legal breach. New Delhi announced it May 4, 2026, citing national security post-Pahalgam. Pakistan relies on these rivers
