Strong jingoistic currents have swept across India since Tuesday, when the air force sent warplanes into Pakistan to bomb what the Indian government said was a terrorist training camp. India has long accused Pakistan of supporting Kashmiri separatist groups, and the airstrike was in response to a Kashmiri suicide bomber’s attack on an Indian military convoy, which killed more than 40 troops. It was the most devastating attack in Kashmir in decades.

Pakistan, which denies any connection to the Kashmiri militants, struck back on Wednesday, downing the Indian fighter jet. Both countries have nuclear arms, and the spiraling crisis put the entire region on edge.

But by Friday, Western diplomats in New Delhi, who have been holding countless meetings and working to defuse tensions, seemed much more relaxed. Their hopeful refrain was: The worst is over.

Several diplomats said that India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, would look like the aggressor at this point if India staged more strikes, and that Mr. Khan had no incentive to push things further. Mr. Khan’s priority has been to revive Pakistan’s listing economy, and so far he seemed to have won this case in the court of world opinion.

His forces had captured an Indian fighter pilot, the pride of India’s military. And his calls for restraint and peace, even if driven by self-interest, seemed to play well around the world, even in India.