“You’ve Hit Us With So Many BrahMos Missiles…”: Pakistan Seeks Ceasefire After 88 Hours of Operation Sindoor

New Delhi: Pakistan came under intense military pressure following India’s retaliatory strikes during Operation Sindoor, with its military leadership eventually seeking an immediate halt to hostilities, according to revelations in the Discovery Channel documentary Declassified: Operation Sindoor.

On May 10, 2025, Pakistan’s Director General of Military Operations (DGMO), Major General Kasif Abdullah, reportedly contacted his Indian counterpart, Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai, to discuss a ceasefire. During the conversation, Abdullah is said to have remarked, “Sir, you have hit us with so many BrahMos missiles; surely, you should hold fire now.”

The exchange ultimately paved the way for an agreement to halt military operations after nearly 88 hours of fighting.

Pakistan Struggled to Establish Contact

According to Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai, Pakistan first conveyed its desire to establish contact around 9 am on May 10. However, the hotline between the two countries was reportedly malfunctioning.

It took approximately an hour and 15 minutes to restore the communication channel. During this period, Pakistan continued attempting to establish contact. Ghai eventually spoke with his Pakistani counterpart at around 3:30 pm.

“Enough Is Enough”: Pakistan Sought End to Hostilities

Ghai recalled that the Pakistani DGMO immediately raised the issue of stopping the fighting.

Abdullah reportedly told him, “Sir, you have hit us with so many BrahMos missiles; surely, you should hold fire now. Why don’t we stop this?”

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval also said in the documentary that Pakistan repeatedly conveyed its desire to end the hostilities, effectively arguing that enough damage had been inflicted and that both sides should agree to a ceasefire.

Pakistan Also Turned to Washington

According to security expert Nikhil Gokhale, Pakistan’s then-Army Chief Asim Munir also reached out to the United States seeking help in bringing the hostilities to an end.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio subsequently spoke with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar at around 10 am and conveyed Pakistan’s desire to stop the fighting.

India, however, made it clear that it did not want mediation by any third country. New Delhi maintained that any communication regarding military operations should take place directly between the two countries’ DGMOs.

Agreement Reached After 5:30 PM

After around half an hour of discussions, the two sides agreed to halt military operations after 5:30 pm on May 10, according to Rajiv Ghai.

This brought the approximately 88-hour-long Operation Sindoor to an end.

Ajit Doval emphasized that India’s restraint and commitment to peace should not be interpreted as weakness, making it clear that India would respond firmly to any future attack.

Operation Sindoor Began at 1:05 AM

Operation Sindoor began at 1:05 am on May 7, 2025, when Indian forces carried out strikes against nine terrorist targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

Bahawalpur and Muridke were among the locations targeted during the operation.

Lieutenant General Pratik Sharma, then GOC-in-C of Northern Command, recalled hearing the DGMO repeatedly announce “first hit, second hit, third hit, fourth hit” as the strikes progressed, indicating that the operation was unfolding according to plan.

An officer involved in the strike on Bahawalpur also recounted reaching the final attack position and giving the command to engage the target. He subsequently watched the munitions released by the accompanying aircraft move towards Bahawalpur.

The officers involved in the mission had been assigned specific code words. As the code words were heard following the strikes, the successful execution of the operation was confirmed.