"No US Role In Op Sindoor": Sources On What Parliamentary Panel Was Told

The United States had no role to play in Operation Sindoor - India's military response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, in which nine terror camps in Pakistan and Pak-occupied Kashmir were neutralised and Islamabad's missile-drone counterattack repelled - sources told NDTV Monday evening after the government briefed the Parliamentary Committee on External Affairs.

The committee was also told it was Pak that reached out to India for a ceasefire; this was after precision strikes by the Indian armed forces hit Pak military installations, including a China-made missile defence system in Lahore and the strategically important Nur Khan air base.

Sources said the committee - chaired by the Congress' Shashi Tharoor, one of seven leading all-party delegations to brief foreign countries on India's response to Pahalgam - was told the plea came from Pak's Director-General of Military Operations, who reached out to his counterpart on May 10 afternoon.

Sources said the committee was told the ceasefire plea came from Islamabad, specifically from Pakistan's Director-General of Military Operations, who reached out to his counterpart in Delhi.

The committee was briefed by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, who updated the MPs on the current state of diplomatic engagement with Pakistan, cross-border security challenges in the post-Pahalgam and Op Sindoor phase, and the broader implications for regional stability.

India and Pakistan agreed to cease hostilities on May 12 - 48 hours after the Pak DGMO's phone call. The Indian military has since confirmed there is no 'expiration date' on the ceasefire, indicating Delhi will honour the agreement so long as Islamabad holds up its end of the deal.

Confirmation of a ceasefire came from both sides but not before US President Donald Trump - whose administration may have persuaded Islamabad to reach out to Delhi - tried to claim credit several times. He said he threatened to withhold American trade to secure the ceasefire.

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India last week issued a firm six-point rebuttal to his claims, even laying out the sequence of events that led to the two DGMOs speaking on the phone and agreeing to cease hostilities.

Trump, however, continued to insist he "sure as hell helped..."

NDTV has been assured no trade favours were exchanged for the ceasefire with Pakistan.

In fact, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar told reporters Thursday talks are ongoing over a "complicated" agreement and that "nothing is decided till everything is..."

India has also categorically rejected Trump's offer to mediate a solution to the long-standing Kashmir crisis. India has made it clear over the years a third-party is not welcome.

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Delhi has also insisted the only talks with Islamabad on Kashmir will do with the disabling of terrorist infrastructure in Pak and the return of illegally occupied Indian territory.