CNN’s international correspondent Nic Robertson reported that it was India who reached out to the United States to help de-escalate tensions after Pakistan launched a missile offensive, catching India off guard.

Speaking on-air, Robertson said: “I was speaking to a source who was literally in the room — it included US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who, I was told, played a significant role in facilitating the ceasefire that was achieved just about an hour ago. This had been in the works for perhaps the last 48 hours. As we've been reporting, Pakistan had entered a sort of military pause, creating a window for diplomacy. However, this fell apart early this morning when India launched attacks on three airbases, one of them near the capital.”

According to Robertson’s source, Pakistan retaliated with a massive and relentless barrage of missiles and rockets, targeting Indian military facilities, airbases, and weapons storage sites.

“It was only in the last few hours before the ceasefire that there was a sufficient pause for both sides to agree it was real. Enough diplomacy and pressure had been applied to bring them to the table,” Robertson explained.

He added that a key unresolved issue for Pakistan is water access, as India has cut off supplies from three vital rivers originating in the Kashmir mountains, which Pakistan considers existential to its survival.

“The source said this is a ceasefire for now — if everything works out. But tensions remain extremely high. From their perspective, they’ve been up all night. There was a sense that if diplomacy had failed, the situation could have spiralled into something far worse. It was now or never.”