'Trump Wasn't Directly Involved': Shashi Tharoor On India-Pakistan Ceasefire

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Last Updated:June 19, 2025, 19:34 IST

Shashi Tharoor, who also headed the all-party delegation to the US, said that Trump is expressing his understanding of something but he was not directly involved.

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has once again clarified that US President Donald Trump was not directly involved in ceasefire talks with Pakistan during Operation Sindoor.

While speaking to NDTV, the Congress MP, who also headed the all-party Operation Sindoor delegation to the US, said that Trump is expressing his understanding of something but he was not directly involved in the ceasefire talks.

“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 Operation Sindoor," he told the news outlet.

Earlier on June 3, Tharoor had clarified that there had been no third-party involvement in the India-Pakistan ceasefire. Tharoor said India did not require any persuasion for a ceasefire because the country never wanted a war.

Tharoor’s statement came after Trump’s repeated claims of brokering the India-Pakistan ceasefire. Trump was the first person to announce the ceasefire, and Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri had later confirmed it in a press conference.

Since May 10, when India and Pakistan decided to stop the military conflict, Trump has repeatedly claimed on multiple occasions that he “helped settle" tensions between the two countries and that he told the nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours that America would do a “lot of trade" with them if they stopped the conflict.

Trump had further 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.

Earlier on Wednesday, the US President hosted Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir at the White House for a lunch meeting and said that two “very smart" leaders of India and Pakistan “decided" not to continue a war that could have turned nuclear.

While speaking to the media in the Oval Office after hosting Munir, Trump said he was “honoured" to meet Munir.

“The reason I had him here, I want to thank him for not going into the war, ending the war. And I want to thank, as you know, Prime Minister Modi just left a little while ago, and we’re working on a trade deal with India. We’re working on a trade deal with Pakistan," the president said.

This is the first time in weeks that Trump did not take credit for stopping the military conflict after India launched Operation Sindoor and destroyed terror infrastructure in Pakistan-controlled areas following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 lives.

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.

During the recent call between President Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the latter made it clear that his only conversation with the US during Operation Sindoor was with Vice-President JD Vance on May 9.

In that too, PM Modi made it clear that he had not relented and stood firm. “On the night of May 9, Vice President Vance told Modi that Pakistan could launch a major attack on India. Modi had told him in clear words that if this happens, India will give an even bigger response to Pakistan," Misri said in a statement about what the PM Modi told Trump.

PM Modi told Trump that India gave a very strong response to Pakistan’s attack on the night of May 9-10, and caused a lot of damage to the Pakistani army, making its military airbases inoperable.

Operation Sindoor

India launched “precision strikes" under Operation Sindoor on nine terror targets in Pakistan and PoK following the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 civilians. The strikes killed over 100 terrorists including 10 family members of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar and four close aides.

Targets included Jaish’s Markaz Subhan Allah in Bahawalpur, Sarjal camp in Tehra Kalan, Markaz Abbas in Kotli, and the Syedna Bilal camp in Muzaffarabad. Lashkar’s strongholds — Markaz Taiba in Murdike, Markaz Ahle Hadith in Barnala, and Shwawai Nalla camp in Muzaffarabad — were also hit. Hizbul Mujahideen’s facilities at Makaz Raheel Shahid in Kotli and Mehmoona Joya in Sialkot were among those targeted.

The strikes, carried out with surgical precision, mark one of the most significant cross-border counter-terror operations since Balakot.

Shobhit Gupta

Shobhit Gupta is a sub-editor at News18.com and covers India and International news. He is interested in day to day political affairs in India and geopolitics. He earned his BA Journalism (Hons) degree from Ben...Read More

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