Trade didn't come up in talks with US amid India-Pakistan tensions, says MEA

Scroll.in

13-05-2025

Trade did not come up in talks with the United States on the evolving military situation between India and Pakistan, said the Ministry of External Affairs on Tuesday.
The statement came a day after US President Donald Trump claimed that he pressured India and Pakistan into accepting a ceasefire by threatening to stop trade with both countries. He reiterated the claim that it was his administration that brokered a 'full and immediate ceasefire' between India and Pakistan.
The US president also claimed that his administration stopped a nuclear conflict.
'I think it could have been a bad nuclear war,' Trump said. 'Millions of people could have been killed.'
During a press conference on Tuesday, India's External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that there were conversations between Indian and US leaders on the evolving military situation from the time Operation Sindoor commenced on May 7 till the understanding on halting military action.
'The issue of trade did not come up in any of these discussions,' Jaiswal added.
About speculation raised by Trump on nuclear war, the spokesperson said that military action from India's side was 'entirely in the conventional domain'.
'There were some reports, however, that Pakistan National Command Authority will meet on May 10 but this was later denied by them,' Jaiswal said, adding that the Pakistani foreign minister had also denied 'the nuclear angle' on record.
'As you know, India has a firm stance that it will not give in to nuclear blackmail or allow cross-border terrorism to be conducted invoking it,' he said. 'In conversations with various countries, we have also cautioned that their subscribing to such scenarios could hurt them in their own region.'
On Saturday, India and Pakistan agreed to stop all firing.
India's Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said at the time that the Pakistani director general of military operations had called his Indian counterpart at 3.35 pm on Saturday to propose an end to the skirmishes.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi reiterated this position in his address to the nation on Monday.
The announcement by the Indian foreign secretary came minutes after Trump claimed on social media that India and Pakistan had agreed to the ceasefire. He had claimed that the ceasefire talks were mediated by Washington.
'After a long night of talks mediated by the United States, I am pleased to announce that India and Pakistan have agreed to a FULL AND IMMEDIATE CEASEFIRE,' Trump had said on social media. 'Congratulations to both countries on using common sense and great intelligence. Thank you for your attention to this matter!'
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had claimed on social media that New Delhi and Islamabad had agreed to ' start talks on a broad set of issues at a neutral site'.
'We commend Prime Ministers [Narendra Modi] and [Shehbaz] Sharif on their wisdom, prudence, and statesmanship in choosing the path of peace,' Rubio said.
However, the Indian Ministry of Information and Broadcast had said that the decision to stop the firing was 'worked out directly between the two countries'.
'There is no decision to hold talks on any other issue at any other place,' the ministry added.
The tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad had escalated on May 7 when the Indian military carried out strikes – codenamed Operation Sindoor – on what it claimed were terrorist camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
The strikes were in response to the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam, which killed 26 persons on April 22.
The Pakistan Army retaliated to Indian strikes by repeatedly along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir.