As tensions ratcheted up over the last week of fighting, Pakistan did not consider deploying nuclear warheads to strike India, the country’s foreign minister Ishaq Dar told CNN on Monday.

Pakistani officials have said Saturday’s ceasefire with India reestablished deterrence. But New Delhi insists the rules of engagement have irrevocably changed.

Without that ceasefire, the subcontinent would likely have devolved into nuclear war sooner or later—a development that would have been catastrophic for the United States.