*

Indian military says Pakistan has been told truce

violations

will be countered

*

Indian military says Pakistan called and sought ceasefire

*

Relief in border towns on Sunday as ceasefire holds

*

Trump pledges increased trade and Kashmir solution

*

India and Pakistan blame each other for overnight

violations

*

Residents in some border areas told not to return home

just yet

(Updates with Indian military briefing in paras 1-2, 4, 6-13)

By Shivam Patel, Aftab Ahmed and Tariq Maqbool

NEW DELHI/ MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan, May 11 (Reuters) -

The Indian military sent a "hotline message" to Pakistan on

Sunday about violations of a ceasefire agreed this week and

informed it of New Delhi's intent to respond if it was repeated,

a top Indian army officer said.

India's Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) was

speaking as a fragile 24-hour-old ceasefire appeared to be

holding after both sides blamed the other for initial violations

on Saturday night.

The truce announced on Saturday followed four days of

intense fighting between the nuclear-armed neighbours. In the

worst fighting in nearly three decades, they fired missiles and

drones at each other's military installations, killing almost 70

people.

Diplomacy and pressure from the United States helped secure

the ceasefire deal when it seemed that the conflict was

spiralling alarmingly. But within hours of its coming into

force, artillery fire was witnessed in Indian Kashmir, the

centre of much of last week's fighting.

Blasts from air-defence systems boomed in cities near the

border under a blackout, similar to those heard during the

previous two evenings, according to local authorities, residents

and Reuters witnesses.

"Sometimes, these understandings take time to fructify,

manifest on the ground," Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai, the

Indian DGMO, told a media briefing, referring to the truce. "The

(Indian) armed forces were on a very very high alert (yesterday)

and continue to be in that state."

The Indian army chief had given a mandate to its

commanders to deal with "violations of any kind" from across the

borders in the best way they deem fit, Ghai added.

He said his Pakistani counterpart called him on Saturday

afternoon and proposed the two countries "cease hostilities" and

urgently requested for a ceasefire.

There was no immediate response to the Indian comments

from Pakistan. Late on Saturday, the Pakistani foreign ministry

had said that it was committed to the truce agreement and blamed

India for the violations.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced the ceasefire on

Saturday, saying it was reached after talks mediated by

Washington.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said India and

Pakistan had also agreed to start talks on "a broad set of

issues at a neutral site".

While Islamabad has thanked Washington for facilitating

the ceasefire and welcomed Trump's offer to mediate on the

Kashmir dispute with India, New Delhi has not commented on U.S.

involvement in the truce or talks at a neutral site.

India maintains that disputes with Pakistan have to be

resolved directly by the two countries and rejects any third

party involvement.

On Sunday, Trump praised the leaders of both countries for

agreeing to halt the aggression and said he would

"substantially" increase trade with them.

Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan each rule

a part of Kashmir but claim it in full, and have twice gone to

war over the Himalayan region.

India blames Pakistan for an insurgency in its part of the

territory, but Pakistan says it provides only moral, political

and diplomatic support to Kashmiri separatists.

PICKING UP THE PIECES

Among those most affected by the fighting were residents on

either side of the border, many of whom fled their homes when

the fighting began on Wednesday, two weeks after a deadly attack

in Indian Kashmir's Pahalgam that India said was backed by

Islamabad.

Pakistan denied the accusation.

In the Indian border city of Amritsar, home to the Golden

Temple revered by Sikhs, people returned to the streets on

Sunday morning after a siren sounded to signal a return to

normal activities following the tension of recent days.

"Ever since the terrorists attacked people in Pahalgam, we

have been shutting our shops very early and there was an

uncertainty. I am happy that at least there will be no bloodshed

on both sides," said Satvir Singh Alhuwalia, 48, a shopkeeper in

the city.

In some border areas, however, people were asked not to

return home just yet. In the Indian Kashmir city of Baramulla,

authorities warned residents to stay away due to the threat

posed by unexploded munitions.

"People here are hosting us well but just as a bird feels at

peace in its own nest, we also feel comfortable only in our own

homes, even if they have been damaged," said Azam Chaudhry, 55,

who fled his home in the Pakistani town of Khuiratta and has now

been told to wait until Monday before returning.

In Indian Kashmir's Uri, a key power plant that was damaged

in a Pakistani drone attack is still under repair.

"The project has suffered minor damage ... We have stopped

generation as the transmission line has been damaged," said an

official from state-run NHPC, India's biggest hydropower

company, who did not want to be identified.