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.

U.S. President Donald Trump was set to meet Syria's president in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday following a surprise announcement that the United States would lift all sanctions on the Islamist-led government despite lingering concerns about its leaders' former ties to Al Qaeda.

India says its strikes into Pakistan-administered Kashmir and Pakistan on Wednesday killed more than 100 militants.

A ceasefire agreed between India and Pakistan appears to be holding, with both sides stressing their commitment to the surprise truce which halted the worst fighting in decades between the nuclear-armed neighbors.

The ceasefire had been expected to bring a swift end to weeks of escalating clashes triggered by the mass shooting of tourists last month that India blames on Pakistan.

Top military operations officials of New Delhi and Islamabad spoke on hotline for the first time since New Delhi conducted Operation Sindoor to destroy nine terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir (POK).

The US-brokered ceasefire agreement will not go anywhere near addressing the fundamental grievances fueling the decades-long dispute over the status of Muslim-majority Kashmir.