Jaishankar did not deny US involvement in India-Pak 'ceasefire': Priyanka

Soon after external affairs minister S. Jaishankar made a statement in the Lok Sabha regarding Operation Sindoor, Congress general-secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday pointed out that the external affairs minister did not categorically state that the US was not involved in the "ceasefire" between India and Pakistan.

Jaishankar on Monday asserted that at no stage in any conversation with the US was there any linkage of trade with Operation Sindoor and the request for halting the military action came from the Pakistani side through the DGMO (director-general, military operations) channel.

He also said the result of India's diplomacy post-Pahalgam attack was that only three out of 190 nations which are part of the UN opposed Operation Sindoor.

Asked about his remarks in the Lok Sabha, Priyanka Gandhi said, "There are certain things he has not categorically said. He has made some statements but for example he has not categorically said that the US was not involved in the ceasefire."

"He (Jaishankar) has said (Prime Minister Narendra) Modiji did not speak to Mr Trump for a certain period but he has not categorically said that the US was not involved. That is interesting," she said.

The Congress has been repeatedly attacking the government over Trump's remarks. Since 10 May, when Trump announced on social media that India and Pakistan had agreed to a full and immediate ceasefire after a long night of talks mediated by Washington, the US President has repeated his claim on several occasions that he helped settle the tensions between India and Pakistan.

The latest such occasion came today, when he once again repeated the claim in Scotland at a joint press briefing alongside UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

However, India has been consistently maintaining that the understanding on cessation of hostilities with Pakistan was reached following direct talks between the DGMOs of the two militaries.

In a nearly 35-minute phone call with Trump last month, Modi reportedly stated that India does not and will "never accept" mediation and that the discussions between Indian and Pakistani militaries on cessation of military actions were initiated at Islamabad's request.

India launched Operation Sindoor on 7 May, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the 22 April Pahalgam attack that killed 26 civilians.

India and Pakistan reached an understanding on 10 May to end the conflict after four days of hostilities in which nearly 20 Indian civilians were killed, though the number of military casualties on both sides remain unspecified.

With PTI inputs