'Trade not discussed between India and US': MEA rejects President Donald Trump's mediation claim

Opposition leaders, including Congress MPs, had earlier sought a clarification from the Centre as to know whether there was US involvement in the understanding between India and Pakistan.

New Delhi: Amid severe criticism over US President Donald Trump's claim about mediation, India has categorically denied his statement that he talked to the two countries regarding stopping trade if the conflict continues. "From the time Operation Sindoor began on May 7 till the understanding on May 10, there were conversations between Indian and US leaders on the evolving military situation. However, the issue of trade did not come up in any of the discussions," the MEA said in a statement.  

Trump had claimed that he had stopped a potential nuclear, saying his administration brokered a "full and immediate ceasefire" between India and Pakistan. However, confusion prevails over the details of the understanding between the two countries. While India has said that it was the Pakistani High Commission that first initiated attempts for the understanding, Pakistan Minister Ishaq Dar's interview with CNN indicated US involvement.

MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on Tuesday made it clear that there is no shift in India's policy on the issue. “We have a long-standing national position that any issues pertaining to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir have to be addressed by India and Pakistan bilaterally. That stated policy has not changed,” Jaiswal said, underlining New Delhi’s consistent diplomatic stand over the decades,” he said.

Opposition leaders, including Congress MPs, had earlier sought a clarification from the Centre as to know whether there was US involvement in the understanding between India and Pakistan.  "Congress has been supporting Operation Sindoor since the very beginning...But before the Prime Minister's address, Trump announced that he had stopped the war between India and Pakistan. The Prime Minister did not say anything on this," Congress' Jairam Ramesh said when asked about his reaction to the Prime Minister's first address to the nation after Operation Sindoor. 

In his address on Monday, PM Modi said that talks with Pakistan would only take place on the issues of terrorism and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. He also chose to sidestep US President Donald Trump's statement that his administration had helped halt the conflict. The Prime Minister said the cessation of hostilities at the moment between India and Pakistan should be seen only as a pause and that Pakistan's actions in the next few days will be evaluated for any further action.

Pakistan, seeing the destruction of terror camps and India's ability to take the operations to their logical end, begged for a cessation of hostilities and approached India for it, giving assurances that they would act on terror and desist from attacks, the prime minister said.

The cessation of hostilities, announced on May 10, came after India's decisive military response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack. Operation Sindoor, launched on May 7, targeted terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, leading to the death of over 100 terrorists affiliated with terror outfits like the Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Hizbul Mujahideen.