Pakistan Says It Is Committed to Truce with India, Vows Response to Aggression 

A boy looks out of his damaged house from Pakistani artillery shelling upon his return to Kotmaira village along the Line of Control in Akhnoor Sector, India, Tuesday, May 13, 2025.(AP)
A boy looks out of his damaged house from Pakistani artillery shelling upon his return to Kotmaira village along the Line of Control in Akhnoor Sector, India, Tuesday, May 13, 2025.(AP)
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Pakistan Says It Is Committed to Truce with India, Vows Response to Aggression 

A boy looks out of his damaged house from Pakistani artillery shelling upon his return to Kotmaira village along the Line of Control in Akhnoor Sector, India, Tuesday, May 13, 2025.(AP)
A boy looks out of his damaged house from Pakistani artillery shelling upon his return to Kotmaira village along the Line of Control in Akhnoor Sector, India, Tuesday, May 13, 2025.(AP)

Pakistan said on Tuesday it remained committed to a truce with India agreed after four days of intense fighting last week, but vowed to respond with full resolve to any future aggression by New Delhi.

The nuclear-armed neighbors halted their worst fighting in nearly three decades after agreeing to a ceasefire on Saturday, following diplomacy and pressure from the United States.

Tuesday's comments from Islamabad came in response to a speech by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi the previous day that warned Pakistan New Delhi would target "terrorist hideouts" across the border again if there were new attacks on India, without being deterred by "nuclear blackmail".

Pakistan's foreign ministry said Islamabad categorically rejected Modi's "provocative and inflammatory assertions" in the speech.

"At a time when international efforts are being made for regional peace and stability, this statement represents a dangerous escalation," it said in a statement.

"Pakistan remains committed to the recent ceasefire understanding and taking necessary steps towards de-escalation and regional stability," it said, promising full resolve in meeting any future aggression by its neighbor.

The two sides fired missiles and drones targeting each other's military installations after India said it struck "terrorist infrastructure" sites in Pakistan and Pakistani Kashmir on Wednesday in retaliation for an attack in Indian Kashmir that killed 26 Hindu tourists.

Pakistan, which said the targets were all civilian, denies Indian accusations that it was behind the attack in the Himalayan region. Its military has said 40 civilians and 11 of its armed forces were killed in the attack.

India said at least five of its military personnel and 16 civilians died.

India said on Tuesday it had declared an official of the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi persona non grata "for indulging in activities not in keeping with his official status".

Pakistan also declared a staff member at the Indian High Commission in Islamabad persona non grata "for engaging in activities incompatible with his privileged status".

Each was given 24 hours to leave the country.

Both countries have already reduced the strength of their embassies after relations nosedived after the April 22 attack.

MODI REPEATS WARNING

Hindu-majority India and Muslim Pakistan each rule part of Kashmir, but both claim it in full, having fought two of their three wars since independence in 1947 over it, along with several limited flare-ups, particularly in 1999 and 2019.

Earlier on Tuesday, Modi visited the Adampur air base near the border and repeated his warning to Pakistan in remarks to Indian Air Force personnel, with whom he posed for photographs.

"We will not differentiate between the government sponsoring terrorism and the masterminds of terrorism," Modi said, referring to India's response in the event of another attack.

"We will enter their dens and hit them without giving them an opportunity to survive."

Separately, the Indian foreign ministry said the issue of trade did not come up in talks with Washington regarding the tension with Pakistan.

The understanding to stop the fighting was reached directly with Islamabad after Pakistan's military operations chief called his Indian counterpart and made the proposal, it added.

Pakistan has said it called India in response to a call from New Delhi on May 7, which the Indian military immediately followed its strikes on the "terrorist infrastructure" in Pakistan.

On Monday, US President Donald Trump said the leaders of India and Pakistan were "unwavering", and the United States had "helped a lot" to secure the ceasefire, adding that trade was a "big reason" why the countries stopped fighting.

India has said the military operations chiefs of both nations spoke by telephone on Monday, reiterating their commitment to halt firing and consider steps to reduce troops on the border.

Pakistan has not provided details of the call.



Trump Envoy Arrives in Kyiv as US Pledges Patriot Missiles to Ukraine

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, shakes hands with United States Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Joseph Keith Kellogg, during their meeting in Rome, Italy, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, shakes hands with United States Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Joseph Keith Kellogg, during their meeting in Rome, Italy, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
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Trump Envoy Arrives in Kyiv as US Pledges Patriot Missiles to Ukraine

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, shakes hands with United States Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Joseph Keith Kellogg, during their meeting in Rome, Italy, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, shakes hands with United States Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Joseph Keith Kellogg, during their meeting in Rome, Italy, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

US President Donald Trump´s special envoy to Ukraine and Russia, retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, arrived in Kyiv on Monday, a senior Ukrainian official said, as anticipation grew over a possible shift in the Trump administration´s policy on the more than three-year war.

Trump last week teased that he would make a "major statement" on Russia on Monday. Trump made quickly stopping the war one of his diplomatic priorities, and he has increasingly expressed frustration about Russian President Vladimir Putin´s unbudging stance on US-led peace efforts.

Trump has long boasted of his friendly relationship with Putin and after taking office in January repeatedly said that Russia was more willing than Ukraine to reach a peace deal. At the same time, Trump accused Zelenskyy of prolonging the war and called him a "dictator without elections”, AFP said.

But Russia´s relentless onslaught against civilian areas of Ukraine wore down Trump´s patience. In April, Trump urged Putin to "STOP!" launching deadly barrages on Kyiv, and the following month said in a social media post that the Russian leader " has gone absolutely CRAZY!" as the bombardments continued.

"I am very disappointed with President Putin, I thought he was somebody that meant what he said," Trump said late Sunday. "He´ll talk so beautifully and then he´ll bomb people at night. We don´t like that."

Trump confirmed the US is sending Ukraine badly needed US-made Patriot air defense missiles to help it fend off Russia´s intensifying aerial attacks.

Trump said that the European Union will pay the US for the "various pieces of very sophisticated" weaponry it is sending.

However, the EU is not allowed under its treaties to buy weapons. EU member countries are buying and sending weapons to Ukraine, just as NATO member countries are buying and sending weapons. EU countries set up the European Peace Facility so that countries which supply arms to Ukraine could be refunded to backfill their own stocks.

Russia has pounded Ukrainian cities, including the capital, Kyiv, with hundreds of drones and cruise and ballistic missiles that Ukraine's air defenses are struggling to counter. June brought the highest monthly civilian casualties of the past three years, with 232 people killed and 1,343 wounded, the UN human rights mission in Ukraine said Thursday. Russia launched 10 times more drones and missiles in June than in the same month last year, it said.

That has happened at the same time as Russia's bigger army is making a new effort to drive back Ukrainian defenders on parts of the 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line.

A top ally of Trump, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, said Sunday that the conflict is nearing an inflection point as Trump shows growing interest in helping Ukraine fight back against Russia's full-scale invasion. It´s a cause that Trump had previously dismissed as being a waste of US taxpayer money.

"In the coming days, you´ll see weapons flowing at a record level to help Ukraine defend themselves," Graham said on CBS´ "Face the Nation." He added: "One of the biggest miscalculations (Russian President Vladimir) Putin has made is to play Trump. And you just watch, in the coming days and weeks, there´s going to be a massive effort to get Putin to the table."

Kirill Dmitriev, Putin´s envoy for international investment, dismissed what he said were efforts to drive a wedge between Moscow and Washington.

"Constructive dialogue between Russia and the United States is more effective than doomed-to-fail attempts at pressure," Dmitriev said in a post on Telegram. "This dialogue will continue, despite titanic efforts to disrupt it by all possible means."

"Equal dialogue, mutual respect, realism and economic cooperation are the foundations of global security," he added, echoing comments by Putin.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte was due in Washington on Monday and Tuesday. He planned to hold talks with Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, as well as members of Congress.

Talks during Kellogg´s visit to Kyiv will cover "defense, strengthening security, weapons, sanctions, protection of our people and enhancing cooperation between Ukraine and the United States," said the head of Ukraine´s presidential office, Andrii Yermak.

"Russia does not want a cease fire. Peace through strength is President Donald Trump´s principle, and we support this approach," Yermak said.

Russian troops conducted a combined aerial strike at Shostka, in the northern Sumy region of Ukraine, using glide bombs and drones early Monday morning, killing two people, the regional prosecutor´s office said. Four others were injured, including a 7-year-old, it said.

Overnight from Sunday to Monday, Russia fired four S-300/400 missiles and 136 Shahed and decoy drones at Ukraine, the air force said. It said that 61 drones were intercepted and 47 more were either jammed or lost from radars mid-flight.

The Russian Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said its air defenses downed 11 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions on the border with Ukraine, as well as over the annexed Crimea and the Black Sea.