Finally, India makes it official: Trump didn't broker India-Pakistan ceasefire

NEW DELHI: India on Tuesday reiterated its rejection of US President Donald Trump's offer to mediate in the dispute with Pakistan over J&K, and said India had a long-standing national position that any issue pertaining to the Union Territory would be addressed by India and Pakistan bilaterally.

"That stated policy has not changed. As you are aware, the outstanding matter is the vacation of illegally occupied Indian territory by Pakistan," MEA said when asked about Trump's offer.

Government also rejected the US president's claim that he had threatened to stop trade with India and Pakistan to get them to agree to a "ceasefire".

Also read: 'No mention of trade in India-US talks during India-Pakistan crisis'

"From the time Op Sindoor started on May 7 till the understanding on cessation of military action on May 10, there were conversations between Indian and US leaders on the evolving military situation. The issue of trade did not come up in any of these discussions," MEA said.

Also, with Trump claiming that he had averted a nuclear war, govt said India's military action was entirely in the conventional domain and warned other countries not to get carried away by Pakistan's nuclear bluff.

While there were reports that Pakistan's National Command Authority, which is responsible for the country's nuclear arsenal, would meet on May 10, govt recalled that Islamabad had later on record denied any "nuclear angle". May 10 was the day India pounded 8-10 airbases in Pakistan, forcing Pakistan to seek a DGMO-level dialogue.

India's armed forces have denied they hit a nuclear site at Kirana Hills, debunking reports about a radioactive leak there. PM Narendra Modi had said on Monday that India would not tolerate any nuclear blackmail by Pakistan.

"India has a firm stance that it will not give in to nuclear blackmail or allow cross-border terrorism to be conducted invoking it. In conversations with various countries, we cautioned that their subscribing to such scenarios could hurt them in their own region,'' MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.

Amid repeated claims by Trump that he had mediated a "ceasefire", govt reiterated that the specific date, time and wording of the understanding was worked out between the DGMOs during their phone call at 3.35 pm on Saturday. The request for this call was received by MEA from the Pakistani high commission at 1237 hours, Jaiswal said. "The Pakistani side had initial difficulties connecting the hotline for technical reasons. The timing was then decided based on the availability of the Indian DGMO at 1535 hours," he added.

"Early on 10th morning, we had mounted an extremely effective attack on key Pakistan Air Force bases. That was the reason they were now willing to stop firing and military action. Let me be clear. It was the force of Indian arms that compelled Pakistan to stop its firing," Jaiswal said.

Also read: 'Force of Indian arms compelled Pakistan to seek ceasefire': India reiterates trade did not come up in talks with US during Operation Sindoor

Government also said the message from India to countries that were in touch with both parties was clear, consistent and the same as what was announced from public platforms. "It was that India was responding to the April 22 terrorist attack by targeting the terrorist infrastructure. However, if the Pakistani armed forces fire, Indian armed forces will fire back; if Pakistan stops, India will also stop."