India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri has stated that the United States played no role in brokering the ceasefire between New Delhi and Islamabad, Indian media reported on Tuesday.
Misri made the comment despite US President Donald Trump claiming credit several times for his government’s part in the truce, which Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also thanked him for.
New Delhi had blamed Islamabad, without proof, of planning last month’s killing in occupied Kashmir’s Pahalgam.
Pakistan had strongly rejected the accusations and demanded an unbiased investigation. With the crisis escalating into a military clash between the nuclear-armed nations, it was the intervention of America that made the two agree to a ceasefire.
Hindustan Times reported that a “senior lawmaker” said Misri alleged, during a session yesterday of the parliamentary committee on external affairs headed by Congress member Shashi Tharoor, that Pakistan made the ceasefire offer and no other nation took part in the talks.
Queried by parliamentarians regarding Trump’s remarks that Washington had facilitated India and Pakistan “settling” the “issue”, the report has quoted Misri as having said: “New Delhi had routine discussions with the US but there was no mediation.”
During the parliamentary panel’s mock session, members asked Misri why the Indian government was showering Trump with limelight and not denying the US president’s assertions about mediating the ceasefire.
But Misri “did not provide any answer” to the queries, Hindustan Times said, citing the legislator, whose name it did not mention.
“Trump openly boasted at least seven times that he brokered the ceasefire. Why was India in silence?” India Today had an unnamed member of the panel ask.
India Today quoted that the MPs formed the impression that India neither consulted the US during talks with Pakistan nor did the US consult India before making the announcement.
Times of India also reported that Misri had reportedly said that Trump had made the comments on the ceasefire over social media and not through any official means, where India could have made its point.
