"Act Of Terror Will Be Considered An Act Of War"": PM Modi Tells Trump
Prime Minister Narendra Modi informed US President Donald Trump that India will regard any act of terrorism, not as proxy actions, but as acts of war, stated Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on Wednesday.
The Prime Minister, during a 35-minute-long phone conversation, also conveyed to Trump that India does not seek and will never accept any mediation on matters related to Pakistan.
President Trump, according to Mr Misri, fully understood India's position and expressed support for its fight against terrorism. PM Modi also informed Trump that India will consider any terror act emanating from Pakistan as an act of war, and that Operation Sindoor remains ongoing.
Mr Misri revealed that this conversation between the two leaders was their first since the Pahalgam terror attack and India's retaliatory Operation Sindoor.
The call took place after a scheduled in-person meeting between the two leaders on the sidelines of the G7 Summit was cancelled due to Trump's early return to the US.
"The phone conversation was held at the request of President Trump," said Misri, adding that PM Modi used the opportunity to detail India's measured military response to the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, which killed 26 innocent tourists.
The attack was claimed by The Resistance Front, a group affiliated with the Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba.
"Prime Minister Modi said that on the night of May 6-7, India had targeted only terrorist hideouts in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. India's actions were very measured, precise, and non-escalatory," Mr Misri said.
"India had made it clear that it would respond to Pakistan's 'goli' with 'gola' (a strong, proportionate military response)," he said.
Operation Sindoor saw India strike nine high-value terror infrastructure sites in Pakistan and PoK. In response, Pakistan launched military strikes not only on Indian military infrastructure but also on civilian and religious sites, prompting further escalation.
The Foreign Secretary also disclosed that on the night of May 9, US Vice President Vance conveyed to PM Modi that Pakistan could launch a major retaliatory strike.
"Prime Minister Modi told him clearly that if this happens, India will respond with even greater force. India's strong counterattack on the night of May 9-10 caused heavy damage to Pakistan's military. Several of their airbases were rendered inoperable," Mr Misri said.
He noted that following India's forceful retaliation, Pakistan approached India with a ceasefire request.
"Prime Minister Modi stated that the ceasefire was agreed to only at the request of Pakistan and that India does not want mediation. He made it clear that at no point during this episode were India-US trade talks or third-party mediation discussed," Mr Misri stated.
"The halt to military action was discussed directly between the two countries through existing military channels," he added.
Reiterating India's long-standing position, Misri said, "Prime Minister Modi stressed that India has never accepted mediation, does not accept it, and will never accept it. There is complete political unanimity in India on this issue."
President Trump reportedly asked if PM Modi could stop by the US on his return from Canada, but the Prime Minister expressed his inability due to prior commitments. However, both leaders agreed to try to meet soon.
The conversation also covered international developments, including the Iran-Israel conflict and the Russia-Ukraine war.
Both leaders agreed that direct dialogue between Moscow and Kyiv is necessary for peace.
"They also discussed the Indo-Pacific and the vital role of the QUAD. Prime Minister Modi invited President Trump to India for the next QUAD summit, and President Trump accepted the invitation," Mr Misri said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Mint
a few seconds ago
- Mint
Trump announces US-Pakistan deal to develop ‘massive' oil reserves, talks tariff relief for allies
US President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that the United States has reached a deal with Pakistan to jointly develop the country's 'massive oil reserves,' in what he described as a major energy partnership. 'We have just concluded a Deal with the Country of Pakistan, whereby Pakistan and the United States will work together on developing their massive Oil Reserves,' Trump wrote on Tuesday. According to Trump, the partnership is still in the early stages, with a leading oil company yet to be selected. 'We are in the process of choosing the Oil Company that will lead this Partnership,' he stated, offering no further details about which firms are under consideration or the terms of the agreement. In a notable aside, Trump floated the possibility of expanded regional trade: 'Who knows, maybe they'll be selling Oil to India some day!' While the post did not include any specifics on timelines or scale, it marks a rare public statement on prospective US-Pakistan energy collaboration. Trump also claimed the White House was actively engaged in trade negotiations with multiple countries on Tuesday. 'We are very busy in the White House today working on Trade Deals,' he wrote, suggesting that a flurry of international outreach was underway. Trump mentioned an upcoming meeting with a South Korean trade delegation, noting the country currently faces a 25% tariff. 'South Korea is right now at a 25% Tariff, but they have an offer to buy down those Tariffs,' he stated. 'I will be interested in hearing what that offer is,' suggesting openness to a potential tariff rollback, contingent on concessions from Seoul. According to Trump, other unnamed countries have also signaled interest in negotiating lower tariffs. 'Likewise, other Countries are making offers for a Tariff reduction,' he wrote, arguing that such deals 'will help reduce our Trade Deficit in a very major way.' Trump concluded by saying, 'A full report will be released at the appropriate time,' suggesting more details may follow on the proposed trade shifts.
Time of India
13 minutes ago
- Time of India
'I'm proud to say no Hindu can ever be a terrorist': Amit Shah in Rajya Sabha
NEW DELHI: "I am proud to say, no Hindu can ever be a terrorist," Union home minister Amit Shah declared in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, hitting out at Congress for manufacturing the thesis of "saffron terror" to malign majority community as part of its politics of appeasement. "They tried to give terrorism a religious colour for the sake of votes - but people of India rejected that falsehood," he said. Shah recalled the effort in some quarters to blame Hindutva outfits for the 26/11 terror attacks that Lashkar-e-Taiba carried out in Mumbai, and said Congress neta Digvijaya Singh was among those who fanned it. tnn 'Afzal Guru couldn't be hanged as long as PC was home mantri' Home minister Amit Shah recalled the effort in some quarters to blame Hindutva outfits for the 26/11 terror attacks that Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) carried out. "All this was done for political gain. Innocent people were jailed, tortured and defamed - not in pursuit of justice but to build a story that served electoral purposes," Shah said, without naming names. Significantly, his attack came on the eve of a court judgment in the Malegaon terror blasts case - the first case allegedly involving members of Abhinav Bharat, supposedly an extremist Hindutva outfit. On Tuesday, PM Narendra Modi in Lok Sabha had also attacked Congress for talking on Hindutva terror even as "Pakistan-backed terror organisations like the LeT were carrying out bomb attacks in different parts" during its regimes. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like TV providers are furious: this gadget gives you access to all channels Techno Mag Learn More Undo In a leaked diplomatic cable, a neta can be heard saying that he was more concerned about "Hindu terror", Modi had said, in what was seen as a reference to the Wikileaks disclosure of a purported conversation between a US diplomat and Rahul Gandhi, then a Congress MP. Participating in the special discussion on Operation Sindoor and Operation Mahadev, Shah accused Congress of enabling terrorism through decades of "appeasement politics" and weakening India's internal security. "The only reason terrorism spread in this country was because of your (Congress) vote-bank calculations," he said. He also said death sentence for Afzal Guru, who was convicted for the terror attack on Parliament, could not be carried out for long as P Chidambaram was home minister. On J&K, Shah said terrorism was now at its lowest point. "There was a time when Pakistan didn't even need to send terrorists. Our own youth were being radicalised. But in the last six months, not a single Kashmiri youth has picked up a gun. All those being eliminated now are Pakistanis," he said. "In the last six months, terrorist groups have not been able to enlist a single local youth," said Shah, who emphasised that the last elections in J&K were the fairest the it has seen. "Elections in J&K were routinely rigged. One senior security officer told me that his main job during the polls was not to ensure safety but to stuff ballots," he said, adding that faith in the fairness has led to a huge turnaround in sentiment. "There was not a single village where processions were not taken out against the killings of tourists at Pahalgam," he said. On Pakistan, he reiterated, "There will be no dialogue until terrorism ends. We stopped only after they pleaded for a ceasefire - when they were on their knees."
Time of India
14 minutes ago
- Time of India
India-US trade: Officials react cautiously to Russia penalty threat
NEW DELHI: As President Trump threatened to impose a penalty on India for its trade ties with Russia, Indian officials reacted cautiously as they reiterated India's position that securing energy needs of the Indian people is the overriding priority. A source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said India is buying oil not because it wants to help Moscow but because it's the right thing to do based on the prevailing market conditions and the global geopolitical situation. Trump said India has always bought "a vast majority of their military equipment from Russia, and are Russia's largest buyer of energy along with China". However, India had been keen on announcing new plans for defence procurement and co-production arrangements with the US too. During PM Narendra Modi's visit to the US in Feb, Trump pushed India to lower tariffs and buy more defence products from the US that would facilitate a fair trade deal. With the US encouraging India to reduce its dependence on Russian-origin equipment, the leaders had agreed to expand defence sales and co-production to strengthen interoperability and defence industrial cooperation. In that context, govt sources here said some of Trump's claims don't stand up to scrutiny. "The fact is that India-US defence trade has been increasing since 2008, while the dependence on Russia continues to reduce considerably," said an official on condition of anonymity, adding that the US is now among the top arms suppliers to India along with Russia and France. While much has been made of India's imports from Russia, little attention has been paid to the fact that its crude imports from the US have seen a significant jump too with the US emerging as the 4th largest supplier to India in April this year, according to Indian officials. Stay informed with the latest business news, updates on bank holidays and public holidays . Discover stories of India's leading eco-innovators at Ecopreneur Honours 2025
