Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal admitted that India was in constant touch with the US during the military conflict against Pakistan, but there was no discussion on trade during this period.
In the weekly media briefing, Jaiswal said, "There were talks between the leaders of India and America from May 7 to May 10, but there was no discussion on trade."
It is worth noting that after the four-day conflict between India and Pakistan, on Saturday, May 10, US President Donald Trump claimed that India and Pakistan agreed to ceasefire after US mediation.
After some time, Pakistan also talked about ceasefire and thanked the US.
Jaiswal rejected Trump's claim and said, "There was no discussion with the US about 'cease in military conflict with Pakistan' or mediation."
He gave a detailed account of stopping military action against Pakistan. He said, "India attacked selected locations in Pakistan on the intervening night of 6-7 May. These were the same terrorist structures from where trained terrorists killed innocent people in India and many parts of the world."
Jaiswal said that the Indus Water Treaty, which was stopped after the Pahalgam attack, will remain suspended until 'Pakistan completely stops supporting terrorism'.
Trump doubles down on his assertions
Hours after India’s Ministry of External Affairs dismissed claims by US President Donald J Trump that a ceasefire between India and Pakistan was brokered with American involvement and hinged on trade negotiations, Trump on Tuesday doubled down on his assertions — including a dire warning that the world narrowly avoided “a bad nuclear war.”
Speaking at the US-Saudi Arabia Investment Forum, Trump insisted, “Just days ago, my administration successfully brokered a historic ceasefire to stop the escalating violence between India and Pakistan. And I used trade to a large extent to do it. I said, fellas, come on, let’s make a deal. Let’s do some trading. Let’s not trade nuclear missiles. Let’s trade the things that you make so beautifully.”
“Millions of people could have died from that conflict that started small and was getting bigger and bigger and bigger by the day,” he said, adding that the US had also been working relentlessly to “end the terrible bloodshed” between Russia and Ukraine.
Prakash Kumar Pandey