 "‘India-Pakistan conflict was stopped with Trump’s personal participation’: Kremlin after Putin call")
Kremlin appears to have endorsed US President Donald Trump’s claim of helping reach a ceasefire between India and Pakistan following a four-day military conflict last month. Trump on Wednesday (June 4) held a telephonic conversation with Russian leader Vladimir Putin during which the two leaders also discussed the India-Pakistan conflict among other issues.
In a press statement issued after the talks, the Kremlin acknowledged Trump’s “personal involvement” in helping halt the military standoff between the two South Asian neighbours.
“The Middle East was discussed, as well as the armed conflict between India and Pakistan, which has been halted with the personal involvement of President Trump,” said the statement.
Trump’s ceasefire claim
The US president has on several occasions claimed he helped broker the truce between India and Pakistan on May 10.
He made the latest claim during a press conference with Tesla CEO Elon Musk earlier this week, saying, “We stopped India and Pakistan from fighting. I believe that could have turned out into a nuclear disaster, and I want to thank the leaders of India and Pakistan, and I want to thank my people. Also, we talk trade, and we say we can’t trade with people who are shooting at each other and potentially using nuclear weapons. They’re great leaders in those countries, and they understood and they agreed, and that all stopped.”
Trump’s comments come merely a week after he made the same claim during South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s visit to the White House, where he said he “settled” the tensions between India and Pakistan through trade.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsIndia’s rebuttal
However, New Delhi has swiftly rejected the claims made by the Trump administration. India maintains that the request for ceasefire was initiated by the Pakistani side on May 10.
Indian opposition lawmaker Shashi Tharoor, who is currently leading a delegation to Washington DC as part of the Operation Sindoor outreach programme, on Thursday dismissed Trump’s claim.
“We have enormous respect for the American Presidency and the American President (Donald Trump). All we can say for ourselves is that we have never particularly wanted to ask anyone to mediate," Tharoor said.
Tharoor further highlighted that India was anyway ready to cease its Operation Sindoor once Pakistan stopped its aggression and hence required no persuasion.
“The moment Pakistan stops, we are prepared to stop. So if they, in turn, then told the Pakistanis, you better stop because the Indians are willing to stop, and that was what they did, then that’s a wonderful gesture on their part with Pakistan, but only Pakistan, and they can tell us exactly what happened. With us, all we can say is that we know, in our conversations, some of these things didn’t come up,” Tharoor added.
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