A tense silence settled over India and Pakistan as millions woke Thursday: no more missiles had been fired, schools in most areas had reopened and both sides appeared to be claiming victory.

New developments in the nuclear powers’ harrowing four-day conflict, along with entrenched religious nationalism on each side, could signal more frequent battles ahead.

A series of military strikes last week by India and Pakistan brought the nuclear-armed rivals closer to a broader war.

India’s missile and bomb strikes on targets in Pakistan and Pakistani-controlled Kashmir have prompted multiple attacks in retaliation between the nuclear-armed neighbors to the point that some are now calling it a de facto war.

The recent military escalation with arch-rival India won't have a large fiscal impact on Pakistan and can be managed within the current fiscal space, with no need for a new economic assessment, Pakistan's Finance Minister said in an interview with Reuters on Monday.