Donald Trump target of thinly-veiled dig after his bold Pakistan ceasefire brag
President Donald Trump had gloated the US-mediated ceasefire between India and Pakistan last week came about in part because he had offered possible trade concessions
Donald Trump's bold claims the ceasefire between India and Pakistan came about because he had offered possible trade concessions were exposed last night.
Randhir Jaiswal, the spokesman for India's foreign ministry, took aim at the US President in a thinly-veiled dig, disputing Mr Trump's boast. He said there was, in fact, no conversation about trade between top leaders in New Delhi and Washington during their talks last week. Mr Trump, 78, had blown his own trumpet, telling reporters the conclusion was, in part, down to his negotiations.
But Mr Jaiswal bluntly said: "The issue of trade didn't come up in any of these discussions." His comments at a press conference in New Delhi came after conversations were held between US Vice President JD Vance and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in addition to other senior figures.
He also denied Mr Trump's claims on a possible escalation involving a nuclear scenario between India and Pakistan. Mr Jaiswal added: "As you know, India has a firm stance that it will not give in to nuclear blackmail or allow cross-border terrorism to be conducted invoking it. In conversations with various countries, we also cautioned that their subscribing to such scenarios could hurt them in their own region."
Mr Trump had said: "I said, 'come on, we're going to do a lot of trade with you guys. Let's stop it. Let's stop it. If you stop it, we'll do a trade. If you don't stop it, we're not going to do any trade'. And all of a sudden, they said, I think we're going to stop." Crediting trade leverage for influencing both the nations' decision, Mr Trump added: "For a lot of reasons, but trade is a big one."
India's swift response casts shadow over Mr Trump's remarks. Regardless of their weight, there were concerns on Saturday - hours after the pact was reached - the ceasefire had been violated as explosions were heard in India-controlled Kashmir. Yet, this was something Mr Trump did not address as he spoke to journalists in his media briefing.
India struck targets inside Pakistan on Wednesday in one of their most serious confrontations in decades. This sparked fears of an all-out nuclear war, which the Mirror reports would threaten to wipeout more than 125 million people worldwide.
Speaking in his press conference, Mr Jaiswal added: "We have a longstanding national position that any issues related to the federally controlled union territory of Jammu and Kashmir must be addressed by India and Pakistan bilaterally. There has been no change to the stated policy."
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