India-Pakistan Stand-Off: Main Updates of May 10

New Delhi: After India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7 to conduct military strikes to destroy nine terrorist camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir, Pakistan retaliated. The days that followed have witnessed military action by both countries, with India also responding to these retaliations with actions including neutralising incoming drone attacks.

Here are five main developments that occurred on May 10, as of 7 p.m. Indian Standard Time. 

1. Morning press briefing by the Union Ministry of Defence
   
   At a press briefing at 10.30 a.m., foreign secretary Vikram Misri said that Pakistan has been escalating and provoking India over the last few days and that this has continued early on Saturday as well. Pakistan was also employing “multiple threat vectors” all across the Western border targeting both military and civilian infrastructure, Wing Commander Vyomika Singh and Colonel Sofia Qureshi said at the press briefing. Air intrusions were attempted at 26 locations and while India was able to limit the damage, there has been some damage to personnel and equipment at some air force bases at Udhampur, Pathankot, Adampur and Bhuj, they added. They reiterated India's intent to stop escalation, provided Pakistan does the same. That Indian citizens were criticising some of the Indian government’s actions was a “hallmark of an open and functioning democracy”, Misri said.

2. Explosions in Srinagar, Bhaderwah
   
   Residents of Srinagar, the capital of Jammu and Kashmir, heard two explosions just before noon on May 10. At around 11.50 a.m., residents of the city heard a loud explosion that was followed by a smaller explosion a few minutes later. Earlier in the day, residents also witnessed a projectile crashing into Dal Lake in the city.
   
   Residents in the upper reaches of Bhaderwah in Kishtwar district of Jammu also heard a loud explosion on the morning of May 10.

3. Stay indoors, says Jaisalmer district administration
   
   At around 2 p.m., Rajasthan’s Jaisalmer district administration asked residents to not venture out. The Jaisalmer district administration and district police appealed to the general public to “stay in their homes and not go out and gather in groups anywhere”.

4. Artillery fire forces villagers to move out of Poonch, Jammu
   
   With cross-border firing by Pakistan intensifying over the last three days in the district of Poonch on the India-Pakistan border along the Line Of Control resulting in the deaths of several civilians (including a 60-year-old on the morning of May 10) and destruction of homes and property, villagers in the area have begun migrating to safer locations. The local police and administration have also been helping move people to relief camps away from the line of fire. According to estimates, at least 16 civilians have died in the artillery firing from Pakistan in Poonch district alone.

5. Evening press briefing by the Union Ministry of Defence
   
   The Director General of Military Operations of Pakistan called his counterpart in India at 3:35 p.m. on May 10 and both sides have agreed to stop all firing and military action both in air and on land from 5 p.m. on the same day, said Misri. Speaking at a short press briefing at 5:56 p.m., Misri said that “instructions have been given on both sides to give effect to this understanding”. The Director General of Military Operations will talk again on May 12 at noon, he added.

6. Special press briefing by the Union Ministry of Defence
   
   Commodore Ravi Nair said that there was a “significant amount of misinformation” being spread by Pakistan. Colonel Sofia Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh went on to list several points of misinformation and wrong claims that Pakistan had made. Pakistan has also “fabricated allegations” that India had targeted mosques but this was untrue. Being a secular nation, no religious site was targeted by the Indian Armed Forces, they added. The Indian Armed Forces has caused grave damage to Pakistan including military infrastructure be it land or air assets; the Indian Armed Forces are fully prepared to protect India, they added.
   
   Whilst they will adhere to the understanding that has been reached today – that both nations would stop all firing and military action – the Indian Armed Forces remain “fully prepared and ever vigilant” to defend the sovereignty of the motherland, Commodore Nair said. Future escalation will invite decisive response, he added, adding that India is operationally ready to take on any eventuality.

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