Shehbaz declares a phantom victory after calling for ceasefire — a claim devoid of facts

In a speech laced with bravado but divorced from facts, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday congratulated his nation following the ceasefire agreement with India, claiming it as a moment of national pride and military success. However, the facts paint a very different picture — one where it was Pakistan, not India, that first reached out for a de-escalation.

Sharif hailed the ceasefire as a sign that Pakistan had shown the world it is a "self-respecting nation," praising the armed forces for what he described as a “professional and effective response” to alleged Indian aggression. “We decided to respond to the enemy in a language that it understands very well,” he declared, framing the ceasefire as a result of Pakistani resolve on the battlefield.

Yet, this rhetoric starkly contradicts the ground reality.

According to authoritative Indian government sources, it was the Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) of Pakistan who initiated the call at 3:35 pm, leading to an agreement that both sides would halt all military action — on land, air, and sea — effective from 5 pm the same day. There was no coercion or concession from India, nor any successful Pakistani military action as Sharif suggested.

Furthermore, the Pakistani Prime Minister’s claims that Indian forces attempted to target Pakistan’s military installations and water infrastructure have been rejected outright by India as misinformation. No such operations were carried out, and Indian defence sources have asserted that their response was strictly limited to counter-terror strikes, not acts of aggression.

Sharif’s fiery rhetoric, it appears, is aimed more at placating domestic audiences and masking the diplomatic backpedalling that led to the ceasefire. His statement — “what the enemy did was cowardly and shameful” — rings hollow in light of Pakistan being the party to request talks, and subsequently agreeing to a cessation of hostilities without any Indian compromise.

Referring to the Indian strikes on terror infrastructure in Pakistan and PoK on Wednesday, Sharif claimed that Pakistan forces “silenced Indian Army assets in a few hours”. However, the visuals of the destroyed terror hubs – covered by both local and international media – junk Sharif’s hollow claims.

The Pakistani Army had also made a baseless claim that their airbases and assets were safe following India’s retaliatory action at several military installations of the country on the intervening night of May 9 and 10.

Hours after India and Pakistan on Saturday reached an understanding on stopping military actions, the arrangement came under severe pressure with New Delhi blaming Islamabad of breaching it.

In a media briefing close to midnight, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri called upon Pakistan to take "appropriate steps" to address these violations and deal with the situation with "seriousness and responsibility".

This came around five hours after the foreign secretary announced that India and Pakistan had reached an understanding to stop all firings and military actions on land, air and sea with immediate effect.