Trump ended wars: White House repeats India-Pak ceasefire claim
India and Pakistan were engaged in the worst military conflict in decades after New Delhi's Operation Sindoor precision strikes against Pakistani terror infrastructure on May 7 in retaliation against the Pahalgam terror attack, which claimed 26 civilian lives on April 22.New Delhi blamed the attack on Pakistan, which denied responsibility. Washington strongly condemned the attack but stopped short of directly accusing Islamabad.The two countries reached a ceasefire understanding on May 10, which Trump announced and said that he brokered it with US diplomatic intervention. India, on the other hand, refuted the claim, saying the Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) of Pakistan called on his Indian counterpart and requested a stop to the hostilities.TRUMP CLAIMS 4–5 JETS DOWN IN CONFLICTUS President Donald Trump has also said that around 4–5 jets were shot down during the India-Pakistan hostilities in May. However, Trump, who made the remarks at a dinner with some Republican lawmakers at the White House, did not specify whether the jets belonged to India or Pakistan.Pakistan had claimed that it downed five Indian planes in air-to-air combat after India launched Operation Sindoor. However, Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan has dismissed Pakistan's claim even though he admitted that an unspecified number of fighter jets were downed during the hostilities.- EndsWith inputs from ANITune InMust Watch
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hindu
9 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Fewer foreign trips, protocol lapses upset Dhankhar; former Vice President felt he had a diminished role
Former Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar, in his 35-month-long tenure, travelled abroad only four times for bilateral visits, and his office often had complained to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) over protocol issues, official sources told The Hindu. The differences over his MEA assignments were amongst the reasons for the discord between the former Vice-President and the government, and a source of grievance for Mr. Dhankhar, who felt his role, especially on foreign policy issues, was less than that of his predecessors. According to the MEA's website, Mr. Dhankhar's four visits included two that came shortly after he took over as Vice-President in August 2022, and subsequently the frequency of these visits tapered off. In comparison, his immediate predecessor Venkaiah Naidu had 13 foreign tours during his tenure between August 2017-2022, and Hamid Ansari represented India on 28 tours abroad during his decade-long tenure from 2007-2017. Mr. Dhankhar went to Cambodia (November 11-13, 2022), Qatar (November 20-21, 2022), U.K. (May 5-6, 2023) and Iran (May 2024). He was not scheduled for any tours this year, although sources said the MEA had proposed two visits abroad, in February and in June, which were turned down due to health reasons. According to the sources, Mr. Dhankhar had complained about what he saw as several protocol violations to several Opposition leaders over the past few months. One point of contention was that the Vice-President believed he received fewer visits from foreign dignitaries than in the past. The Vice-President's office was reportedly unhappy over his visit to Tehran, where he represented India at the funeral of President Ebrahim Raisi, who had died in a helicopter crash. The Iranian government's protocol officials were apparently overstretched as more than 40 high-level dignitaries attended the ceremonies, and the sources said Mr. Dhankhar was uneasy with the arrangements at Tehran's Parsian Azadi hotel during his day-long trip. Mr. Dhankhar's absence from the official banquet during U.S. Vice-President J.D. Vance's trip in April this year also raised several eyebrows. On April 21, when Mr. Vance landed in Delhi, Mr. Dhankhar was on board a flight to Jaipur and returned to the Capital only after Mr. Vance had left. However, officials privy to the exchanges said that the Vice-President's office had not been informed of the programme of the U.S. Vice-President in advance, nor was he included in the programme. At the time, The Hindu had reported that a meeting between the two Vice-Presidents was not scheduled, as officials said it was not mandated by protocol due to differences in the Indian and U.S. government structure. Sources in the Vice-President's office said that despite the issues and his own health problems, Mr. Dhankhar carried out his diplomatic assignments to the full extent he was required to, pointing out where he felt there were gaps. On May 19, speaking at an event in Delhi, he referred to a protocol lapse in the reception line-up for Chief Justice B.R. Gavai, and said 'I too am a sufferer'. He pointed out that his photograph had not been kept in government offices alongside those of the President and Prime Minister, as he said they should be. 'Once I demit office, I'll ensure that my successor has a photograph,' he said, adding that when such complaints were made, they were 'not personal, but for the position held'.
Time of India
9 minutes ago
- Time of India
US State Department investigating Harvard's participation in exchange visitor program
The U.S. State Department, under Secretary of State Marco Rubio, has initiated an investigation into Harvard University's exchange visitor program sponsorship eligibility. This action aligns with the Trump administration's broader efforts to influence U.S. universities, alleging antisemitism and radical ideologies. Simultaneously, the Department of Education is probing several universities for potential national origin discrimination related to DACA scholarships. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Popular in NRI 1. US student visas saw greater diversity in first half of FY2025 The U.S. State Department has opened an investigation into Harvard University 's eligibility as a sponsor in the exchange visitor program , Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday, as the Trump administration takes aim at the country's oldest and richest university."To maintain their privilege to sponsor exchange visitors, sponsors must comply with all regulations, including conducting their programs in a manner that does not undermine the foreign policy objectives or compromise the national security interests of the United States," Rubio said. "The investigation will ensure that State Department programs do not run contrary to our nation's interests," he has become a central focus of the administration's broad campaign to leverage federal funding to force change at U.S. universities, which President Donald Trump says are gripped by antisemitic and "radical left" the earliest actions the administration took against Harvard was the cancellation of hundreds of grants awarded to researchers on the grounds that the school failed to do enough to address harassment of Jewish students on its Trump administration has since sought to bar international students from attending the school; threatened Harvard's accreditation status; and opened the door to cutting off more funds by finding it violated federal civil rights Department of Education separately on Wednesday said it opened national origin discrimination investigations into the University of Louisville, the University of Nebraska Omaha, the University of Miami, the University of Michigan, and Western Michigan investigations will determine if the universities are granting scholarships only for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) or "undocumented" students, according to the moves come as the Trump administration has pursued wide-ranging efforts to fulfill the president's hardline immigration agenda.
The Wire
9 minutes ago
- The Wire
At UNSC, India Hits Back After Pakistan Raises Kashmir, Indus Waters Treaty
New Delhi: India on Tuesday (July 22) pushed back against Pakistan at the UN Security Council after Pakistani foreign minister Ishaq Dar used a high-level debate on peaceful dispute resolution to raise the Kashmir issue and criticise the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty, describing Pakistan as 'steeped in fanaticism and terrorism' and a 'serial borrower from the IMF'. Dar, who chaired the meeting as part of Pakistan's rotating presidency of the Security Council, alleged that India has been violating UN resolutions and international law. He also accused New Delhi of unilaterally disrupting long-standing water-sharing arrangements under the Indus Waters Treaty, and reiterated Pakistan's demand for the implementation of UN Security Council resolutions on Kashmir. Responding later in the meeting, India's permanent representative to the UN, P. Harish, dismissed Pakistan's comments. 'On the one hand, there is India which is a mature democracy, a surging economy and a pluralistic and inclusive society. At the other extreme is Pakistan, steeped in fanaticism and terrorism, and a serial borrower from the IMF,' Harish said. Without naming Pakistan initially, Harish argued that the council must take a firm position on cross-border terrorism. 'It ill-behoves a member of the council to offer homilies while indulging in practices that are unacceptable to the international community,' he said. Harish defended India's recent military action under the aegis of 'Operation Sindoor' carried out in the wake of the April 22 terrorist attack in Pahalgam. He said that India's strikes targeted terrorist camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, and were 'focused, measured and non-escalatory'. He added that India halted operations once its objectives were met, 'at the request of Pakistan'. The Indian envoy argued that there must be 'serious cost to states who violate the spirit of good neighbourliness and international relations by fomenting cross-border terrorism'. India had put the World Bank-brokered Indus Waters Treaty 'in abeyance' a day after the Pahalgam terror attack. India has maintained that Jammu and Kashmir is an internal matter, and that bilateral issues with Pakistan must be addressed without third-party interference. However, New Delhi has grown increasingly uneasy with US President Donald Trump's repeated public statements claiming a role in brokering the ceasefire following the four-day escalation between the two countries earlier this year. India has maintained that the cessation of hostilities was the result of direct communication between military leaderships. Harish reaffirmed India's commitment to peaceful dispute resolution under the UN Charter, but insisted that 'national ownership and consent' must remain central to any peace process. He also called for urgent reforms of the UN Security Council to address growing doubts about its representativeness and effectiveness. 'The continuing UN Security Council impasse also shows the increasing challenges to its functioning,' Harish said In his broader remarks, Harish noted that the nature of conflicts has changed in recent decades, with the rise of non-state actors backed by state sponsors, and the spread of radical ideologies facilitated by digital platforms. There were new pressures on UN peacekeeping operations, he said, adding that peacebuilding has also acquired greater salience. At the start of the meeting, the 15-member body adopted the Pakistan-drafted resolution for strengthening mechanisms for the peaceful settlement of disputes. It also called on member states to make full use of diplomatic tools such as negotiation, mediation, conciliation and arbitration to resolve disputes peacefully.
