India's Modi maintains there was no US mediation in ceasefire with Pakistan
FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi shake hands as they attend a joint press conference at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 13, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo
India's Modi maintains there was no US mediation in ceasefire with Pakistan
NEW DELHI - India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi maintained in a conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump late on Tuesday that a ceasefire between India and Pakistan after a four-day conflict in May was achieved through talks between the two militaries and not U.S. mediation, India's senior-most diplomat said
Trump had said last month that the nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours agreed to a ceasefire after talks mediated by the U.S., and that the hostilities ended after he urged the countries to focus on trade instead of war.
"PM Modi told President Trump clearly that during this period, there was no talk at any stage on subjects like India-U.S. trade deal or U.S. mediation between India and Pakistan," Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said in a press statement.
"Talks for ceasing military action happened directly between India and Pakistan through existing military channels, and on the insistence of Pakistan. Prime Minister Modi emphasised that India has not accepted mediation in the past and will never do," he said.
Misri said the two leaders spoke over the phone at the insistence of Trump on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada which Modi attended as a guest. The call lasted 35 minutes.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the Modi-Trump call.
Pakistan has previously said that the ceasefire happened after its military returned a call the Indian military had initiated on May 7. REUTERS
Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


New Paper
17 minutes ago
- New Paper
NDP 2025 to feature first SCDF guard-of-honour contingent
For the first time in National Day Parade (NDP) history, the 2025 parade and ceremony will feature a Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) guard-of-honour contingent on Aug 9. NDP 2025, which marks Singapore's 60th year of independence, will also see the Singapore Armed Forces Volunteer Corps (SAFVC) field its first full contingent to mark its 10th anniversary. Colonel Lim Yu Sing, the NDP 2025 parade and ceremony chairman, said on June 12 that the parade will feature 40 marching contingents - the largest number at the Padang since 1990, when 70 took part. While participants will train for about 14 weekends - similar to previous years - the higher number of guard-of-honour contingents has added complexity to their movements, said the 44-year-old Col Lim. Meticulous planning has gone into technicalities such as where the contingents turn, their spacing, marching speed and where they stop, said Col Lim, who was also parade and ceremony chairman for NDP 2023. SCDF Deputy Commissioner for Operations and Resilience Ling Young Ern said the decision to include the SCDF in the guard-of-honour contingent was made following public feedback. The force will remain a part of the guard of honour in future NDPs. The inclusion of the SCDF means that its service personnel have to be trained to handle the SAR21 rifle - which is not part of the SCDF's personal equipment but a standard weapon borne by guard-of-honour troops. For this reason, the SCDF was not part of the guard-of-honour contingent for previous NDPs, Deputy Commissioner Ling and NDP 2024 Exco chairman Brigadier-General Low Wilson said in 2024 in response to an ST forum letter. NDP 2025 will be led by parade commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Firdaus Ghazali, 38, and parade regimental sergeant major, Master Warrant Officer Lim Jie Hui, 46. About 2,100 participants will take part in the parade. They include members of six guard-of-honour contingents, the SAF colours party, several SAF and Home Team supporting contingents, uniformed youth organisations, numerous civilian contingents, a combined band and a live choir. In addition, 142 soldiers are involved in the presidential gun salute. Training for contingents from the SAF and Home Team began in April, while civilian contingents joined in from May. The first combined rehearsal at the Padang will take place on June 14. For LTC Firdaus, being a parade commander was his childhood dream. In 2002, he participated in the NDP as a performer for the closing act in the show segment when he was a Temasek Secondary School student. "I had a glimpse of the parade and ceremony segment during one of the training sessions from the stands of the (old) National Stadium," said LTC Firdaus, who is commanding officer of the SAF's Motorised Infantry Battalion Training Centre 1. "I developed a deep appreciation for the parade and its significance as the heart and core of our NDPs." In total, the parade at NDP 2025 will involve about 2,100 participants. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI Major Lee En Hao, 34, commander of the SCDF's inaugural guard-of-honour contingent, said Aug 9 will be a "historic moment" for the force. He added that he is excited to see how future parades may evolve, with the SCDF guard-of-honour contingent now a permanent fixture in the NDP. With the rest of the guard of honour, the SCDF contingent will fire blanks using SAR21 rifles during the feu de joie or fire of joy, which is a ceremonial salute. Sergeant 3 Thenmoli Silvadorie, a 28-year-old SCDF paramedic, said learning how to use and fire a SAR21 rifle has been exciting for her. "Initially it felt heavy, but with more training... it has become a part of us," she said. "It instils a lot of discipline and accountability." NDP 2025 will be the second time in three years that the number of guard-of-honour contingents has increased. In 2023, the SAF's Digital and Intelligence Service - inaugurated in 2022 - joined the NDP for the first time, fielding a guard-of-honour contingent along with the army, navy and air force contingents as well as the Singapore Police Force. The SAFVC was first represented at the NDP in 2019, as part of a combined contingent that also featured members of the police's Volunteer Special Constabulary and the SCDF's Civil Defence Auxiliary Unit. The combined volunteer contingent did not feature again until NDP 2024. SAFVC contingent commander Arlene Pang, 42, said the fact that the volunteer corps is able to field an entire contingent in 2025 reflects how it has grown over the past decade. Ms Pang, who joined the SAFVC in 2015 as part of its first batch of volunteers, feels as if she has "grown up from primary school to secondary school" with the corps. "I've seen it from its genesis to where it is right now. I've seen how different leaders have come in to bring SAFVC to the next level and to make it what it is today," said Ms Pang, who serves with the navy. This year, the public can get up close with the SAF colours at an uncasing ceremony in Marina Square from 5.15pm before the parade and ceremony begin. During the parade and ceremony segment, spectators will be near the live choir, who will perform on "island stages" positioned near the seating galleries. The 127-member choir is formed by Greendale Secondary School students and singers from arts group Voices of Singapore. Accompanying them is a 100-piece band, with members from the SAF Band, SPF Band, Singapore National Cadet Corps Command Band and National Police Cadet Corps Band. As the National Anthem plays during the state flag flypast - just after the President arrives at the Padang - members of the uniformed youth contingents at the parade will form the words "Majulah 60" using umbrellas, a nod to NDP 2025's theme Majulah Singapura and the country's 60th birthday. The parade and ceremony will conclude with the onward march as contingents from the SAF, Home Team and uniformed youth organisations march past the spectator stands while exiting the Padang. People without tickets to the parade at the Padang can still get in on the action at Marina Bay, where four 25-pounder guns will sail around the bay on the SAF's Mobility 3rd Generation rafts, coming near those gathered at The Promontory @ Marina Bay.

Straits Times
28 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Hungarian opposition party has 15-point-lead ahead of Orban's Fidesz, poll says
FILE PHOTO: Peter Magyar, leader of opposition TISZA party, delivers a speech during a campaign tour in Siofok, Hungary, March 27, 2025. REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo/File Photo BUDAPEST - Hungary's main opposition party Tisza has a 15-point lead over Prime Minister Viktor Orban's Fidesz among decided voters, widening the gap between them ahead of next year's election, a survey by pollster Median showed on Wednesday. The centre-right Tisza party, led by Peter Magyar, poses the biggest political challenge to nationalist Orban's 15-year rule while his government is also facing economic difficulties. Hungary's economic output was unchanged in the first quarter from a year earlier, while inflation was among the highest in the European Union. The threat of steep U.S. tariffs on EU imports also looms large over Hungary's recovery prospects. Magyar's party, which was only launched last year, has the support of 51% voters who say they have decided whom to back, while 36% of respondents said they would vote for Fidesz according to the poll, published by local news weekly HVG. The survey showed that Tisza was particularly popular among younger people, with 58% support among under-40s, while a majority of those aged over 50 backed Fidesz. A majority of those polled said they expected Tisza to win the next election. "This is noteworthy because, in the past two decades, public opinion polls preceding elections almost invariably predicted a Fidesz victory, thus reliably forecasting the ultimate outcome," Median researchers wrote in the article. Spokespeople for the government and Fidesz were not immediately available for comment. Tisza, named after Hungary's second biggest river and founded by Magyar, a former government insider, in February 2024, has led Orban's party in most opinion polls for months. Orban, keen to lure back disaffected voters, included steep tax cuts for families in a 2026 election year budget approved by parliament on Tuesday. The parliamentary election is set to take place early next year, though no date has yet been set. Ahead of the 2022 parliamentary election most pollsters predicted a close race as they overestimated support for the opposition parties. Among the pollsters, Median produced one of the most accurate predictions of the 2022 race in a poll conducted shortly before the election. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.

Straits Times
34 minutes ago
- Straits Times
German minister to Iran: never too late to negotiate
German minister to Iran: never too late to negotiate BERLIN - Germany's foreign minister appealed to Iran's leaders to make credible assurances that it is not seeking a nuclear weapon and to show it is willing to find a negotiated solution as fears mount of further military escalation between Iran and Israel. "We are still ready to negotiate a solution. However, Iran must act urgently ... it is never too late to come to the negotiating table if one comes with sincere intentions," Johann Wadephul said at a news conference with his Jordanian counterpart on Wednesday. Wadephul said Israel's fear that Iran would develop nuclear weapons was justified and it had a right to self-defence. "The Israeli decision to do something against this threat is comprehensible," he said, adding civilian deaths on both sides were regrettable after air attacks between Iran and Israel. His ministry was arranging special flights later on Wednesday and on Thursday to each repatriate about 180 German citizens via Amman, he said. Wadephul also said Germany had agreed to create an economic council with Syria to improve cooperation and boost prosperity and stability there. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.