India scaled down its diplomatic relations with Pakistan as part of its retaliatory measures. It expelled all Pakistani defence attachés, declaring them "persona non grata" (unwelcome) and announced it would withdraw its own defence advisers from its high commission in Islamabad.

India also has a long-standing policy of refusing to allow foreign mediation when it comes to the status of Muslim-majority Kashmir - a disputed region claimed by both India and Pakistan in its entirety - which has been at the center of the latest conflict with Pakistan and which India regards as a strictly internal matter.

N ARENDRA MODI, India’s prime minister, sounded as defiant as he did triumphant in speaking to the nation two days after a ceasefire with Pakistan. India’s four-day military operation, he said on May 12th,

After days of intense firefights, Indian and Pakistani authorities say there were no reported incidents of firing overnight along the heavily militarized region between their countries.

India and Pakistan engaged in the most intense fighting in decades with four days of escalating conflict that included fighter jets, missiles and drones packed with explosives. It ended almost as abruptly as it began.

New developments in the nuclear powers’ harrowing four-day conflict, along with entrenched religious nationalism on each side, could signal more frequent battles ahead.

Pakistani officials have said Saturday’s ceasefire with India reestablished deterrence. But New Delhi insists the rules of engagement have irrevocably changed.

Shilpak Ambule, India's high commissioner to Singapore said that "everybody is on operational alert. But that does not mean that our India growth story and focus on economy gets affected." His comments come against the backdrop of tensions between India and Pakistan,