LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Good evening.

I'm Laura Barron-Lopez.

John Yang is away.

India and Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire today after the most serious military confrontation between the nuclear armed neighbors in decades.

The deal was expected to bring a swift end to the fighting after four days of drone volleys and missile strikes.

But just hours later, multiple explosions were heard India controlled Kashmir.

India's foreign secretary accused Pakistan of breaching the truce.

VIKRAM MISRI, Foreign Secretary, India: We take very serious notice of these violations.

We call upon Pakistan to take appropriate steps to address these violations and deal with the situation with seriousness and responsibility.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: For its part, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said it is ready to engage in, quote, constructive diplomacy and solve the dispute in Kashmir through peaceful means.

Lisa Curtis is director of the Indo-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New American Security and she served on the National Security Council during President Trump's first term.

She joins us now.

Lisa, we all learned about this agreement when President Trump posted on Truth Social that the two countries had reached a, quote, full and immediate cease fire after U.S. mediated talks.

Is this actually a ceasefire?

And what do you make of the parameters of the deal?

LISA CRUTIS, Director, Indo-Pacific Security Program: Well, I think this is a very important ceasefire agreement that was announced.

I think the U.S. did have a role in it.

Secretary of State Rubio has been engaged with his Indian and Pakistani counterparts over the last several days.

It seems things came to a head on Friday when the situation was really escalating between the two countries and the U.S. got involved even more deeply.

Vice President Vance talked to Prime Minister Modi and finally today they were able to clinch a ceasefire deal.

Now, only a few hours after the deal was put into place, as you have reported, there were apparent violations of the ceasefire.

So this is, you know, not a good thing.

But I don't think that this means it's completely breaking down.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Pakistan's prime minister did not address India's accusation that they violated the ceasefire.

How volatile is this situation?

LISA CURTIS: Well, it is a volatile situation.

It has calmed down, of course, since yesterday, since we now have a ceasefire in place.

Both countries have acknowledged it.

So, you know, there is no reason, even if India believes that there may have been some violations.

This doesn't mean that India has to respond because, unfortunately, what we -- the cycle were in over the last four days was tit for tat, you know, responding with drones, missiles on each side.

And it was continuing to escalate.

But now that we have this agreement in place, there is a mood.

People are very happy.

There's a mood that things have calmed down.

And so I see the ceasefire violations as, you know, temporary.

Hopefully they're temporary.

And they do not mean that the situation is breaking down, but rather it's just an imperfect ceasefire at the moment.

And I think the U.S. will get involved.

It already has been involved.

It has brokered this ceasefire.

And so I'm sure that as we speak, the U.S. is talking with both sides, trying to figure out what is going on to make sure that they can get the cease fire back into place and get the situation calmed down again.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Lisa, what do you make of the fact that India's government said that this deal was brokered between India and Pakistan?

They didn't acknowledge any U.S. involvement and seem to reject some of the statements from the President and Secretary of State Rubio.

LISA CURTIS: Well, I don't think this is surprising.

India has always rejected any third party mediation in its dispute with Pakistan over Kashmir.

Pakistan has a completely opposite position where they constantly are trying to get international attention and mediation on the dispute.

So, you know, in these cases, it is important that the U.S. is involved in taking a role in pulling both countries back from the brink.

However, you know, the U.S. doesn't have a role in trying to, you know, resolve the fundamental territorial dispute over Kashmir.

That is not something that I think the U.S. can help out with.

That is something that both of the countries have to do on their own.

So India is very sensitive to any hints of outside mediation in their dispute with Pakistan.

And I think that's why they have really downplayed the U.S. role in this particular ceasefire agreement.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Lisa Curtis, thank you for your time.

LISA CURTIS: Thank you.