JAISALMER — Shops in India’s northwestern border towns slowly reopened on Monday as a fragile calm settled in after India and Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire following the deadliest cross-border conflict between the two nuclear-armed neighbors in nearly three decades.
The truce, brokered on Saturday, came after four days of missile and drone attacks that targeted military installations across the India-Pakistan border, leaving nearly 70 people dead and raising fears of a broader war in one of the world’s most volatile regions.
In the desert city of Jaisalmer in Rajasthan, near India’s western frontier, markets showed signs of recovery as shopkeepers began resuming business. “The markets have opened, the businesses have restarted. We have started earning again,” said one shopkeeper, who asked not to be named. “However, where will we take our money after we die? If a missile strikes, we will die here. But to see the market buzzing like this makes me happy.”
Residents said life was beginning to return to normal, despite lingering uncertainty. “There was a blackout last night,” said Sangha Ram Chaudhry, a local resident. “The markets have started opening now. Life is getting back on track.”
Elsewhere, particularly in parts of Indian-administered Kashmir, the situation remained tense. Markets were largely shuttered and roads sparsely trafficked. Authorities have advised residents who fled frontline villages not to return yet, citing continued security concerns.
The ceasefire follows a week of escalating hostilities, which began with Indian airstrikes on what New Delhi described as terrorist infrastructure inside Pakistani territory, in response to a deadly bombing in Kashmir. Pakistan retaliated with its own strikes, prompting fears of a wider conflict.
While the situation has cooled, analysts and residents alike remain wary of how long the calm will last.
