How Hyderabad Pakistan Celebrated the 2025 India-Pakistan Ceasefire
The story of how Hyderabad, Pakistan celebrated the India-Pakistan ceasefire of May 2025 — including the famous Bombay Bakery moment, street celebrations, and what it all meant for this proud Sindhi city.
On the evening of May 10, 2025, something happened in Hyderabad that made international headlines — not for a tragedy, not for a disaster, but for something far rarer in Pakistani news.
The people of Hyderabad came out to celebrate.
Flags appeared on rooftops. People poured into the streets of Latifabad, Saddar, and the old city. Motorcycles drove through neighbourhoods with Pakistani flags flying from their handlebars. The night sky over the city — still warm in the May heat — filled with the sound of chanting and horns.
Hyderabad was celebrating the India-Pakistan ceasefire. And photographs of that celebration went around the world.
What Happened in May 2025
To understand Hyderabad's celebration you need to understand what the city and the country had just been through.
In April 2025, a devastating terrorist attack on tourists in Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir killed dozens of civilians. India blamed Pakistan for the attack. On May 7, 2025, India launched military strikes deep inside Pakistan under what it called Operation Sindoor — the most significant military escalation between the two nuclear-armed countries in decades.
Pakistan responded. For several days the two countries exchanged drone strikes, missile attacks, and air force engagements in what became the most serious India-Pakistan conflict since 1999. The entire world watched and held its breath. In Pakistan, people prepared. Families in Sindh — including Hyderabad — watched the news with the anxiety that comes from knowing your country and your people are at war.
Then, on the evening of May 10, 2025, a ceasefire was announced. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed the agreement. Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar told Geo News that it was a full and complete ceasefire, with three dozen countries involved in the diplomacy that made it possible.
The relief across Pakistan was immediate and total.
Hyderabad's Streets That Night
The celebrations in Hyderabad that night were captured by international media. Photographs taken by AFP photographer Akram Shahid showed Pakistani people celebrating in Hyderabad's streets — images that were published by Al Jazeera, CNN, Foreign Policy, and news organisations around the world.
People waving the Pakistani crescent and star flag. Young men on rooftops. Families in the streets looking at each other with the expression people get when something frightening ends and everyone is still alive.
For international audiences these images represented the relief felt across Pakistan. For Hyderabadis they meant something more personal — this was their city, their streets, their people, on the screens of the entire world.
The Bombay Bakery Moment
Of all the details to emerge from Pakistan's reaction to the ceasefire, one small story captured something genuinely poetic — and it involved Hyderabad directly.
In Hyderabad, India — the city in Telangana state — protestors gathered outside a bakery called Karachi Bakery and demanded it change its name. The logic was the logic of nationalist anger: a Pakistani city's name on an Indian bakery was suddenly unacceptable.
In Hyderabad, Pakistan — this city, on the banks of the Indus — something almost mirror-opposite happened. Residents celebrated Bombay Bakery, the legendary sweet shop on Saddar that has been one of Hyderabad's most beloved institutions for decades.
Bombay Bakery. Named after a city now called Mumbai. In a Pakistani city. Celebrated on the day of a ceasefire with India.
It was one of those small human moments that carry more meaning than any political speech. The name had never bothered anyone in Hyderabad. The cake still tasted the same. The sweet shop that had fed generations of Hyderabadi families across every Eid, every wedding, every celebration — it was still there. Open. Pakistani. And named after a city on the other side of a border that neither people asked for.
Pakistan's Response and What It Meant
The ceasefire marked a dramatic moment in Pakistan's international standing. In the weeks and months that followed, Pakistan's diplomatic success in securing the ceasefire — with support from dozens of countries — was widely discussed.
Pakistan went on to play an unexpected role on the world stage in 2026 as a mediator in broader regional diplomacy — a remarkable turn for a country that had just weathered its most serious military confrontation in decades.
Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir was promoted to Field Marshal on May 20, 2025, ten days after the ceasefire — recognition from Pakistan's government of his leadership during the crisis. Pakistan's National Assembly formally celebrated what it described as a Pakistani victory on May 12.
For ordinary Pakistanis — including the people of Hyderabad — the debate about who won and who lost was less important than the simple relief of being at peace again. The crisis had lasted just a few days but those days had carried a weight that everyone who lived through them will remember.
Why This Matters for Hyderabad's Story
Hyderabad appeared in international photographs at one of the most significant geopolitical moments of 2025. The city's streets, its people, and even its most famous bakery became part of a story that the entire world was reading.
This is not unusual for Hyderabad in a broader historical sense. This is a city that has witnessed centuries of history — founded in 1768, fought over in 1843, transformed by partition in 1947, and present at every major chapter of Pakistan's national life.
The ceasefire celebrations of May 10, 2025 added another chapter. Ordinary Hyderabadis — the same people who deal with the water crisis every summer, who wait for the monsoon, who send their children to MUET and cheer for the Kingsmen — came out into their streets on that evening and showed the world what relief looks like.
That is worth remembering. And worth recording for the city's history.
The Bombay Bakery — Hyderabad's Sweet Institution
Since the Bombay Bakery became part of this story, it is worth saying something about what it actually is to Hyderabad.
Bombay Bakery has been one of the most cherished institutions in Hyderabad for generations. Its cakes — particularly the Black Forest cake and the pound cake — are so famous that people travel from Karachi specifically to buy them. Wedding receptions in Hyderabad are considered incomplete without a Bombay Bakery cake at the centre of the dessert table.
The name has never caused a moment's controversy in Hyderabad. It is simply part of the city's identity — a reminder that before 1947, before partition, before all the borders and battles, Bombay and Hyderabad were connected by the same colonial railway, the same trading networks, the same cultural exchanges that defined life in pre-partition India.
The bakery kept the name. Hyderabad kept the bakery. And on May 10, 2025, when the world was watching, the city's people celebrated with the quiet confidence of people who know exactly who they are.
Hyderabad has always been at the center of Pakistan's national story — read about the city's deeper history in our history of Hyderabad Pakistan guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did Hyderabad Pakistan celebrate the India-Pakistan ceasefire?
Yes. On May 10, 2025, when the India-Pakistan ceasefire was announced following Operation Sindoor, people in Hyderabad Pakistan came out into the streets to celebrate. Photographs of the celebrations published by AFP and shown by Al Jazeera, CNN, and other international media brought global attention to the city.
What is the Bombay Bakery Hyderabad Pakistan?
Bombay Bakery is one of Hyderabad Pakistan's most beloved and famous bakeries, known particularly for its Black Forest cake and pound cake. People travel from Karachi specifically to buy Bombay Bakery cakes. The bakery became an interesting symbol during the 2025 India-Pakistan ceasefire period when its name — Bombay, after what is now Mumbai — was noted in contrast to protests in Hyderabad, India over a bakery named Karachi Bakery.
What was Operation Sindoor?
Operation Sindoor was a military operation launched by India on May 7, 2025 against targets inside Pakistan following the April 2025 Pahalgam terrorist attack in Indian-administered Kashmir. Pakistan responded militarily. The conflict was the most serious between India and Pakistan in decades and ended with a ceasefire on May 10, 2025.
How did the India-Pakistan conflict of 2025 affect Hyderabad?
Hyderabad Pakistan, like all Pakistani cities, experienced the tension and anxiety of the May 2025 India-Pakistan military conflict. When the ceasefire was announced on May 10, 2025, Hyderabadis celebrated in their streets. International photographs of those celebrations gave the city a rare moment of global visibility — this time for a celebration rather than a crisis.
Where is Bombay Bakery in Hyderabad Pakistan?
Bombay Bakery is located in the Saddar area of Hyderabad, Pakistan — the main commercial district of the city. It has been one of Hyderabad's most celebrated bakeries for several decades and is considered a must-visit by anyone coming to the city.