External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Monday clarified India’s stand and response on U.S. President Donald Trump’s claim that he used trade to force India and Pakistan to agree to a ceasefire during the escalation following India’s Operation Sindoor in May.
Speaking at a fireside chat with Newsweek CEO Dev Pragad, Jaishankar recounted the sequence of events, asserting that there was no linkage between trade negotiations and ceasefire talks. “I can tell you that I was in the room when U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance spoke to Prime Minister Modi on the night of May 9, saying that the Pakistanis would launch a very massive assault on India,” he said.
He emphasized that no trade-related leverage was discussed during that call. “We did not accept certain things, and the Prime Minister was impervious to what the Pakistanis were threatening to do,” Jaishankar noted. “On the contrary, he (PM Modi) indicated that there would be a response from us.”
Jaishankar confirmed that Pakistan did indeed launch a massive attack that night, to which India responded swiftly. The following morning, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio contacted him to inform that Pakistan was ready to talk. Later that day, Pakistan’s Director General of Military Operations, Major General Kashif Abdullah, directly contacted his Indian counterpart, Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai, to request a ceasefire.
“I can only share what I personally experienced,” Jaishankar stated.
(With inputs from IANS)
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