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‘Was always an attempt from our end': Top Pak journo on how Trump came into India-Pakistan ceasefire scene
A top Pakistani journalist has punctured the Pakistani narrative of 'victory' over India in the recent military standoff, revealing how Islamabad repeatedly pressed the Donald Trump administration of the US to get the ceasefire done with New Delhi.
Najam Sethi, a senior Pakistani journalist deemed close to the establishment, recently admitted on air that it was Islamabad that approached the Trump administration several times during the four-day military conflict with India in May.
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He also hailed Pakistan's lobbying efforts in Washington DC and credited them for persuading Trump to help broker the ceasefire.
Pakistan was dying for a ceasefire and had been lobbying to approach Trump for the same. India kept rejecting.
Story of Pakistan's 'victory' by Najam Sethi.
- @pakistan_untold pic.twitter.com/bbj1myKOsk — Imtiaz Mahmood (@ImtiazMadmood) July 4, 2025
'We have been thanking Trump (for ceasefire). We thanked him back then too for this initiative (ceasefire). India didn't do the same … Trump kept on saying that he brokered a ceasefire. But Modi rejected this claim and said that it was the DGMOs who got it done,' Sethi said.
'It was always an attempt from our end to keep a relationship going with Trump. And we have been successful. We tried from all ends … a lot of lobbying companies were operating. It was a concerted effort,' the senior journalist said.
The admission by Sethi has once again revealed Islamabad's duplicity, as it projected a defiant stance during the military hostilities while secretly lobbying for US mediation.
India has consistently asserted that its military actions were a response to Pakistan's aggression, and it was Pakistan that ultimately sought a ceasefire. Prime Minister Narendra Modi explicitly denied any third-party mediation during a recent phone call with Trump, emphasising that the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) from both sides had agreed to a ceasefire on May 10.
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India's strikes on Pakistan's air bases and its assertive naval manoeuvres reportedly marked a significant turning point in the four-day conflict, pressuring Islamabad to agree to a ceasefire.
Previously, Najam Sethi acknowledged that India had effectively neutralised Pakistan's air defence systems, leaving its airspace exposed during Operation Sindoor. During a Pakistani TV news discussion, Sethi noted that the Indian Air Force's strategic drone-led attacks crippled Pakistan's defences.
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