Foreign minister Jaishankar asked if India can trust US President Donald Trump. His reply: ‘Meaning what?'
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar weighed in on India's foreign policy priorities and ties with major global players — including the United States under Donald Trump during his visit to Brussels this week. In a conversation with European media network Euractiv, he was asked whether India could trust Trump.
Jaishankar replied: 'Meaning what?'. The interviewer then expanded on the question, asking, 'Is he (Trump) as good as his word? Is he a partner India is willing to deepen ties with?'
'I take the world as I find it,' was Jaishankar's reply. 'Our aim is to advance every relationship that serves our interests — and the US relationship is of immense importance to us. It's not about personality X or president Y.'
Jaishankar's frank comments come as New Delhi and Washington have differed over US role in the cessation of hostilities between India and Pakistan. The US President has often reiterated his claim of mediating peace between New Delhi and Islamabad, while India has asserted that the decision was made strictly bilaterally.
Speaking at a campaign event on May 31, Trump once again said he 'got India and Pakistan to stop fighting' by linking trade talks to de-escalation. 'We talk trade, and we say we can't trade with people who are shooting at each other and potentially using nuclear weapons… They understood and they agreed, and that all stopped,' he said.
Earlier, on May 10, when the two nuclear-armed countries agreed to stop firing and military action, the United States claimed credit for brokering the ceasefire with Trump saying the two countries agreed on a full and immediate ceasefire 'after a long night of talks mediated by the United States'.
New Delhi has dismissed such remarks in the past and maintains that the ceasefire following Operation Sindoor was the outcome of direct bilateral engagement with Pakistan. Indian officials have underlined that no foreign government, including the United States, was involved — and that trade negotiations with Washington were unrelated to any security decisions made in the region.
Jaishankar, who is in Brussels to meet European Union (EU) leaders, also spoke about India's foreign policy priorities from counterterrorism and trade to multipolarity and global trust.
On the recent clash with Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack, Jaishankar urged the West to see India's response under Operation Sindoor as an anti-terror operation—not a border spat.
'This isn't merely an India-Pakistan issue. It's about terrorism,' he said, adding: 'Let me remind you—Osama bin Laden lived in a Pakistani military town, right next to their equivalent of West Point. That very same terrorism will eventually come back to haunt you.'
He also criticised the international media coverage for reducing the situation to 'tit-for-tat between two nuclear-armed neighbours.'
Noting Europe's search for 'strategic autonomy,' Jaishankar said multipolarity is already here. 'Europe must now make decisions based on its own capabilities and interests… I hear terms like 'strategic autonomy' being used—these were once part of our vocabulary,' he remarked.
Calling the EU a 'major pole' in the global order, Jaishankar said: 'That is precisely why I'm here: to deepen our relationship in this multipolar world.'
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