'India-US ties go beyond trade deal or ceasefire claims': Govt sources on why India didn't call Trump 'a liar'

Sources in the Union government have stressed that the India-US relationship goes beyond the disagreement over the ceasefire in the India-Pakistan conflict earlier this year and cannot be compromised over the issue.

Since May when India and Pakistan clashed for four days before reaching a ceasefire on May 10, US President Donald Trump has claimed that he brokered the ceasefire between the two countries. India, on the other hand, has maintained that Pakistan made a request after four days of battering that India granted.

Speaking in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi of the Congress party said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should publicly declare Trump a “liar” over his false claims.

Notably, while the government has not used the word “liar”, it has repeated multiple times that the ceasefire was a result of India accepting Pakistan’s request and no third-party intervention was at play there.

“If Narendra Modi has even 50 per cent of the courage of Indira Gandhi, he should declare in the House that Trump is lying about the ceasefire,” said Rahul.

On the intervening night of May 6-7, India launched Operation Sindoor and struck terrorist sites in Pakistan and Pakistan Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (POJK). It was launched in response to the attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam in which terrorists killed 26 people on April 22. After Pakistan responded to Indian strikes with attacks on Indian civilian and military sites, India struck Pakistani military sites, including airbases and air defence units and, after four days of battering, Pakistan reached out to India with a request for a ceasefire on May 10. India granted Pakistan the request.

India-US ties go beyond disagreements, say sources

Sources in the Union government have said that the India-US relationship goes beyond ongoing differences, such as differences over the ceasefire in the India-Pakistan conflict and ongoing trade talks.

Even as the August 1 deadline for a trade deal is just around the corner, India and the United States have not been able to reach any deal. It is believed that the Trump administration’s refusal to respect Indian red lines about sensitive sectors of dairy and agriculture and genetically modified (GM) crops is the main barrier in the two sides reaching a deal.

Trump on Tuesday said that India will likely face 20-25 per cent tariff starting August 1, which will be much higher than the 15 per cent tariff that he has imposed on the European Union (EU) and Japan that he has struck deals with.

Sources said that the United States has so far stood with India in disputes with China, such as during the Doklam standoff of 2017, and such an important relationship cannot be compromised on one or two differences.

Moreover, sources stressed that the prime minister has publicly declared that no leader asked India to stop the war. Similarly, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said that Modi and Trump never had the discussion about stopping the war.

Sources further said that the Congress party has been in power before and it should know how governments function, suggesting that the party should realise the kind of words that the government would use to assert disagreement with the United States.