- Donald Trump has, once again, claimed credit for the ceasefire between India and Pakistan.
- Mr Trump also complained that "not one story" had been written about this.
- PM Modi had made it clear to Mr Trump that the discussion had taken place directly between India and Pakistan.
Sticking to his position despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi making it clear that India had agreed to a ceasefire based on Pakistan's request, US President Donald Trump has, once again, claimed credit for "stopping the war" between the two countries and even complained that "not one story" had been written about it.
PM Modi and Mr Trump spoke over the phone for 35 minutes on Wednesday after the US president had to leave the G7 Summit in Canada early and their planned meeting could not happen. Briefing reporters, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said the PM had told Mr Trump that Pakistan was compelled to request a ceasefire.
On Operation Sindoor, which was a response to the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam, PM Modi informed Mr Trump that India's response had been measured and non-escalatory and India had only targeted terrorist camps and hideouts in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
"Prime Minister Modi clearly conveyed to President Trump that at no point during this entire sequence of events was there any discussion, at any level, on an India-US Trade Deal, or any proposal for a mediation by the US between India and Pakistan. The discussion to cease military action took place directly between India and Pakistan through the existing channels of communication between the two armed forces, and it was initiated at Pakistan's request," Mr Misri said.
"Prime Minister Modi firmly stated that India does not and will never accept mediation. There is complete political consensus in India on this matter," he added.
Speaking to reporters later in the day, hours before his meeting with Pakistan's army chief Asim Munir at the White House, Mr Trump, however, continued to claim that he had stopped the war and, at the same time, stated that PM Modi had been "very influential".
"Well, I stopped the war between Pakistan - I love Pakistan - I think Modi is a fantastic man, I spoke to him last night. We are going to make a trade deal with Modi of India... And I stopped the war between Pakistan and India. This man (possibly referring to Asim Munir) was extremely influential in stopping it from the Pakistani side, Modi from the India side, and others. And they were going at it, they are both nuclear countries. I got it stopped," Mr Trump claimed.
Complaining that the press had not taken note of this, he continued, "I don't think I had one story written, did I have one story written? I stopped a war between two major nations, major nuclear nations. I did not have a story written about it, but that's okay. You know why, the people know."
Direct Contact
India has emphasised, on several occasions, that neither the US nor any third party had a role in its decision to cease military hostilities with Pakistan. New Delhi has maintained that the Pakistani Director General of Military Operations sought to speak to his Indian counterpart on May 10 after India struck several airbases in the country, including the important Nur Khan airbase, also known as the Chaklala airbase.
This has not, however, stopped Mr Trump from repeatedly taking credit for the ceasefire. He did so, in fact, as recently as Sunday and repeated the claim that his carrot-or-stick approach with trade had helped broker the truce.
"Iran and Israel should make a deal, and will make a deal, just like I got India and Pakistan to make, in that case by using TRADE with the United States to bring reason, cohesion, and sanity into the talks with two excellent leaders who were able to quickly make a decision and STOP!" he claimed.
