NEW DELHI – The US had no role to play in clinching a ceasefire between India and Pakistan and that the plea had come from Pakistan’s Director-General of Military Operations to his counterpart in Delhi,  Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri told a parliamentary panel on Monday on cross-border security challenges post Operation Sindoor, sources said.

The Foreign Secretary appeared before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs, headed by Congress Lok Sabha member Shashi Tharoor, to provide a comprehensive briefing on the Operation Sindoor and recent tensions between India and Pakistan.

He clarified that Pakistan had reached out to India for a ceasefire after the 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.

Foreign Secretary’s clarifications that the US had no role in brokering India-Pak ceasefire assumes added significance as it comes amid persistent opposition parties’ demand from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to come clean on the repeated claims being bragged by US President Donald Trump that it was the US that brokered the ceasefire between India and Pakistan.

Speaking at the US-Saudi Arabia Investment Forum, Donald Trump had last Wednesday claimed that he persuaded both India and Pakistan to “trade goods, not nuclear missiles.”

Crediting trade diplomacy to be the crux of the efforts for easing tensions, Mr Trump also praised leaders of both countries as “smart and strong.”

Seeking clarification from the government, the Congress had questioned: “What do the typically loquacious PM and EAM have to say about this revelation? Did they mortgage India’s security interests in the face of US pressure.”

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh had questioned in a post on social media handle X: “Americi Papa Ne War Rukwaa Di Kya? (Has the American Dad got the war stopped?)”

However, the Ministry of External Affairs has since denied that trade played any part and the discussions only focused on the military situation.

Last Tuesday the Congress had also alleged that the Prime Minister  had “deeply disappointed the nation” as he did not clarify the truth behind the US President’s claim that it was the US that brokered the ceasefire between India and Pakistan.

Claiming that the Prime Minister in his address to the nation last Monday “did not clarify so many things for which the country was waiting to know,” senior party leader and former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, had also alleged: “The government has lost both, the moral courage and moral authority……. there was shock and surprise across the country over the sudden ceasefire which too was announced by the US President.”

Mr Misri also pointed out that the allegations against External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar of informing Pakistan before launching an airstrike were misrepresentations of facts and that he has been misquoted.

Asia News Network/The Statesman