'India achieved its objective of teaching terrorists a lesson': Shashi Tharoor on the Indo-Pak ceasefire

Senior Congress leader and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor has hailed India and Pakistan’s decision to stop military actions, saying the two sides had reached a stage where the escalation was getting out of control.

Speaking to news agency ANI, Tharoor said New Delhi had no intention to continue the war. India's primary objective was to teach the terrorists an important lesson and that was achieved during the conflict that lasted for almost 100 hours.

In a surprise move on May 10 evening, US President Donald Trump announced a “ceasefire” between India and Pakistan on a day of intense aerial warfare, marked by drone and missile strikes and counter-strikes. Later India and Pakistan, too, confirmed the move to pause military conflict, which was increasingly looking like a war.

Pakistan hit India’s forward positions within hours of truce declaration and India responded. For now, there is a semblance of calm; May 11 will decide which way the conflict goes. Comparing the all-out confrontation with the one in 1971, the Congress leader said the circumstances of 1971 were very different to the one in 2015.