‘I don’t wanna say I did it, but I helped’: Donald Trump changes tune on India-Pakistan ceasefire

US president Donald Trump on Thursday reiterated he mediated between India and Pakistan for a ceasefire following India’s Operation Sindoor in response to the fear assault in Pahlagam that killed 26 folks, largely vacationers.While addressing a crowd of US navy personnel in Qatar, Trump stated, “I don’t wanna say I did but I sure as hell helped settle the problem between Pakistan and India last week, which was getting more and more hostile and all of a sudden you’ll start seeing missiles of a different type and we got it settled. I hope I don’t walk out of here and two days later find out that it is not settled, but I think it is settled.”The US president additionally claimed that he talked about commerce to each India and Pakistan as a measure to cease the war-like state of affairs that was unfolding between the 2 states. “And we talked to them about trade. Let’s do trade instead of war. And Pakistan was very happy with that, and India was very happy with that and I think they are on the way. They have been fighting for about a thousand years, in all fairness. I said I could settle that up.I could settle anything. Let me settle it up. Let’s get them all together,” Trump stated.Trump additionally shed gentle on the long-standing battle between India and Pakistan. He stated, “How long have you been fighting? About a thousand years. Oh, that’s a lot. I’m not sure about that. I’m not sure about settling. That’s a tough one. They’ve been fighting for a long time. But we got that settled. Nobody… Boy, everybody was very happy, I’ll tell you. That looked like it was really going to be escalating out of control.“Immediately after the ceasefire between India and Pakistan on Sunday, Trump had claimed he mediated between the 2 nations. Posting on Truth Social, Trump stated, “After a long night of talks mediated by the United States, I am pleased to announce that India and Pakistan have agreed to a full and immediate ceasefire. Congratulations to both countries on using common sense and great intelligence. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”His feedback, nonetheless, blew up in India, with the opposition attacking Prime Minister Modi for breaking the Simla Agreement of 1972, which stated that Kashmir is a bilateral difficulty between India and Pakistan and that there might be no third-party involvement on the matter.A day after Trump’s declare, Prime Minister Modi, in an handle to the nation, declared India wouldn’t be concerned in dialogue with Pakistan, but did not point out mediation by the US or mediation typically. “India will only engage with Pakistan on two issues, terrorism and the return of Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK), ruling out any possibility of normal diplomatic dialogue,” the Prime Minister stated.Minister of exterior affairs S Jaishankar, on Thursday, categorically denied the mediation. He stated, “Our relations and dealings with Pakistan will be strictly bilateral. That is a national consensus for years, and there is absolutely no change in that. The prime minister made it very clear that talks with Pakistan will be only on terror,” he stated.The ministry of exterior affairs additionally, in an announcement on Tuesday, stated, “That stated policy has not changed,” and denied that there we talks about commerce within the talks with the US. “From the time Operation Sindoor started on May 7 till the understanding on cessation of military action on May 10, there were conversations between Indian and US leaders on the evolving military situation. The issue of trade did not come up in any of these discussions,” it stated.