I was there...: Jaishakar rejects Trump's repeated claims on India-Pak ceasefire

External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar, who is currently in the United States, reiterated New Delhi's stand on Operation Sindoor and rejected President Donald Trump's repeated claims of brokering a ceasefire between India and Pakistan, saying there was no linkage between trade negotiations and ceasefire talks.

"I can tell you that I was there in the room when US Vice President JD Vance spoke to Prime Minister Modi on the night of May 9, warning that Pakistan was planning a massive assault on India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was impervious to what the Pakistanis were threatening. On the contrary, he indicated that there would be a response," Jaishankar said during a conversation with Newsweek CEO Dev Pragad.

Jaishankar further revealed that Pakistan did carry out a large-scale attack that night, to which India retaliated immediately.

"The following morning, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio contacted him to say that Pakistan was ready to talk. Later that day, Pakistan's Director General of Military Operations, Major General Kashif Abdullah, directly reached out to his Indian counterpart, Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai, to request a ceasefire," Jaishankar added.

Trump, on various occasions, claimed that he persuaded both sides to end the hostilities that erupted after India launched Operation Sindoor to destroy terror bases in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir following the deadly terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam.

While speaking to reporters in The Hague last week, Trump reiterated his version despite India's denials, saying, "I ended that with a series of phone calls on trade. I said, Look, if you you going to fight each other, we are not doing any trade deal".

Rejecting this claim, Jaishankar said the events did not unfold that way and that diplomacy and trade talks were entirely separate.

"I think the trade people are doing what they should be doing — negotiating numbers, lines, products, and trade-offs. They are very professional and focused," he said.

Jaishankar pointed out that terrorist groups continue to operate openly from densely populated areas in Pakistan, running headquarters that function like "corporate offices". Reiterating India's tough stance, he said, "We are very clear — there will be no impunity for terrorists. No more treating them as proxies and sparing the governments that shelter and finance them. And we will not allow nuclear blackmail to deter our response".

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