On April 22, Foreign Minister S Jaishankar firmly pushed back against US President Donald Trump’s repeated claims that America mediated a ceasefire between India and Pakistan.
Speaking to Dutch broadcaster NOS, Jaishankar clarified that the ceasefire deal was strictly bilateral—between New Delhi and Islamabad—with no role played by the US.
This statement came just a day after Trump boasted at a White House meeting about “settling” the India-Pakistan standoff “through trade.” But back home in India, the foreign minister made it crystal clear: India handled its own business.
“Let Their General Call Ours”
In his statement, S Jaishankar explained how India’s retaliatory airstrikes on Pakistani airbases during the four-day conflict changed the game. “It compelled the Pakistani military to accept that we need to stop firing at each other,” he said. Not because Washington told them to, but because they had no choice.
Jaishankar admitted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and he were in contact with US officials like Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance. But that’s standard in any global crisis. “When two countries are in conflict, others call. That’s normal,” he said.
What wasn’t normal was Trump acting like he played peacemaker. As Jaishankar put it, “We made one thing clear: if Pakistan wants to stop fighting, their general must call our general.” And that’s exactly how the shooting stopped.
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Just a day earlier, Trump had claimed in front of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa that he helped end the India-Pakistan fight through trade diplomacy. He said he told both countries to stop shooting. That might sell in a campaign speech, but not in South Asia.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs quickly shut that down too. Spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said trade was never even discussed in talks with the US during the ceasefire days.
PoK and Terrorism: India’s Only Terms
Jaishankar didn’t stop there. He stated that the only issues India will ever discuss with Pakistan are return of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and an end to cross-border terrorism. That’s the line. It hasn’t changed—and it won’t.
For a country that’s had to live with the trauma of terror attacks and border infiltrations, this is not about diplomacy games. It’s about national security, dignity, and calling the shots ourselves.
India doesn’t need global middlemen to speak for us. When it comes to Pakistan, we fight when we must, and we talk only when it suits India’s interests. That’s not arrogance—it’s sovereignty. And it’s high time the world, especially leaders in Washington, took note.
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