In US Lobbying Firm's Filings, No Mention Of Trump Mediating In Op Sindoor

Newly examined US public disclosures have cast fresh doubt on US President Donald Trump's repeated assertions that Washington brokered a ceasefire between India and Pakistan during Operation Sindoor in May last year.

Documents filed under the US Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), accessed by NDTV, show no instance in which New Delhi sought American mediation or raised the issue of a ceasefire in its official engagements.

The three-page filing, available in the public domain, chronicles a dense calendar of calls, emails and meetings facilitated in Washington between April and December 2025 by SHW Partners LLC, a lobbying firm headed by Jason Miller, a former Trump adviser. The firm was engaged by the Indian Embassy, two days after the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22, to support routine diplomatic outreach, including preparations for high-level visits, trade negotiations and coordination with US agencies. 

A close reading of the entries reveals that India's priorities during the period surrounding Operation Sindoor were sharply focused elsewhere: managing US media coverage of the operation, tracking the status of US-India trade talks, and arranging meetings for Indian parliamentary and ministerial delegations visiting the United States. Several entries also note the Indian Ambassador's willingness to engage American media outlets. Nowhere do the records indicate a request for third-party intervention, mediation, or a ceasefire.

This paper trail sits uneasily alongside Trump's public narrative. He has claimed more than 65 times that he personally mediated between New Delhi and Islamabad to secure a truce during Operation Sindoor. India has consistently rejected that version, maintaining that the cessation of hostilities followed a request from Pakistan's military leadership through established military channels, not through any external broker.

Officials in New Delhi point out that the FARA filings describe a standard practice in Washington. "Lobbying is a legal and transparent process in the US, followed by most governments," a senior government source told NDTV, noting that decades of such disclosures are available on the US Justice Department's website. "There is nothing clandestine here."

The documents also detail the practical scope of SHW Partners' work: arranging engagements with the US State Department, the National Security Council, and other offices; assisting the Indian ambassador and other diplomats; and supporting discussions tied to trade and strategic coordination through 2025. The frequency of interactions underscores the intensity of diplomatic activity, but their subject lines point to diplomacy as usual, not crisis mediation.