"Trump Wasn't Directly Involved": Shashi Tharoor To NDTV On Ceasefire Claims

Donald Trump was not involved in ceasefire talks with Pakistan during Operation Sindoor, India's military response to the Pahalgam terror attack, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor told NDTV Thursday.

"This is Trump expressing his understanding of something but, as far as we're concerned, he was not directly involved. There wasn't any call from Trump during Op Sindoor..." he said, stressing India was always in control and "there was no question of us needing persuasion (from the US) to stop".

"We were only reacting to terrorism," Mr Tharoor said firmly, "We said, 'if Pakistan decides to hit us... we will hit them back. If they stop... we will stop'. And the moment they stopped, we stopped."

"This was not action against Pakistan.. that was absolutely not the case. We took action on well-announced grounds," he said, pointing out India had clearly said only terror camps would be struck.

Mr Tharoor's statements are the latest by an Indian lawmaker countering the American President's repeated credit grab. Mr Trump has claimed he threatened to withhold trade with India and Pak, and also offered lower import tariffs for India, if the two countries agreed to cease hostilities.

India has firmly rebuffed every claim, explaining in detail that Pakistan had reached out to ask for the ceasefire and that the terms were settled directly between the two militaries.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi underlined that message in a call with Donald Trump Tuesday.

READ | India Doesn't Want Mediation, Agreed To Pak's Ceasefire Plea, Trump Told

Mr Modi's phone call, however, seemed to have no impact; hours later Mr Trump again claimed credit for the ceasefire, and this time lamented the lack of press coverage highlighting his role.

Mr Trump was also told India had no interest, now or ever, in third-party mediation to resolve the Jammu and Kashmir issue. Mr Trump, while claiming credit for the ceasefire, had also offered himself as a mediator - a role he spoke about in his first term too - as he plots his Nobel Peace Prize move.

On the mediation question, Mr Tharoor told NDTV there could be no equivalence between India and Pakistan unless the latter stopped funding and training cross-border terrorists and terror strikes.

"Mediation implies an equivalence between two parties who need to be mediated between. But there can be no mediation, no equivalence between terrorists and their victims. There is no equivalence between a country that sends terrorists across the border and a country acting in self-defense."

He also spoke about Pak Army chief General Asim Munir having lunch with Mr Trump at the White House this week - a meeting that came a day after the Modi-Trump phone call - has caused some disquiet. General Munir had made outrageous and incendiary comments before the Pahalgam attack.

The Trump-Munir lunch had been picked up by the Congress, which criticised the government for a potential diplomatic setback. Jairam Ramesh called it a 'triple jhatka', or setback, to Indian diplomacy.

However, Mr Tharoor, a diplomat himelf, played down the significance of the lunch, saying, "We don't know what the Americans said to the Pakistanis (and) I don't think we need to be worrying about it..."

"I mean, as far as I'm concerned, if Mr Trump wants to call somebody for lunch because he was recommended for a Nobel Peace Prize... who are we to question that?"

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