- Modi denies Washington’s involvement in brokering ceasefire.
- Claims ceasefire achieved through existing military channels.
- “I stopped a war … I love Pakistan,” says Trump.
US President Donald Trump insisted on Wednesday that he had stopped the war between Pakistan and India, hours after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told him the ceasefire after a four-day conflict in May was achieved through talks between the neighbours’ militaries, not US mediation.
Trump made his remarks just before he was scheduled to host Field Marshal Asim Munir in a rare meeting at the White House on Wednesday, something likely to upset India, a country the US president and his predecessor Joe Biden assiduously courted as part of efforts to push back against China.
Asked what he wanted to achieve from the lunch meeting, which will follow a call he held with Modi on Tuesday evening, Trump told reporters at the White House: “Well, I stopped a war … I love Pakistan. I think Modi is a fantastic man. I spoke to him last night. We’re going to make a trade deal with Modi of India.
“But I stopped the war between Pakistan and India. This man [COAS Munir] was extremely influential in stopping it from the Pakistan side. Modi from the India side and others. They were going at it — and they’re both nuclear countries. I got it stopped.”
Trump had said last month that the nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours agreed to a ceasefire after talks mediated by the US, and that the hostilities ended after he urged the countries to focus on trade instead of war.
However, Modi told Trump late on Tuesday that the ceasefire was achieved through talks between the Indian and Pakistani militaries and not US mediation, according to India’s most senior diplomat, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, contrary to US President Donald Trump’s stance, has denied Washington’s involvement in brokering a ceasefire with Pakistan last month.
“PM Modi told President Trump clearly that during this period, there was no talk at any stage on subjects like India-US trade deal or US mediation between India and Pakistan,” Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said in a press statement while referring to the telephonic conversation between the two leaders.
“Talks for ceasing military action happened directly between India and Pakistan through existing military channels, and on the insistence of Pakistan. PM Modi emphasised that India has not accepted mediation in the past and will never do,” the diplomat claimed.
The heaviest fighting in decades between Pakistan and India was sparked by an April 22 attack in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) that killed 26 people, most of them tourists. New Delhi blamed Pakistan for the attack, a charge denied by Islamabad.
Pakistan has previously said that the ceasefire happened after its military returned a call the Indian military had initiated on May 7.
In response to India’s cross-border strikes, Pakistan had launched Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos after downing six Indian Air Force jets, including three Rafales in response to Indian aggression.
The two countries, following four days of armed conflict, agreed on a US-brokered ceasefire on May 10.
Although Pakistan has time again praised and credited President Trump for his role in the ceasefire, which he himself has highlighted on multiple occasions, India has denied any US involvement whatsoever.
However, the US president is on record reiterating his stance and has even offered to mediate the longstanding Kashmir dispute between the two countries — a stance also highlighted by the US State Department as well.
