Shashi Tharoor on Donald Trump's repeated ceasefire claims: ‘India didn't need persuasion'
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday, while wrapping up his all-party delegation's Brazil visit, said on Monday that if at all any American persuasion took place in the process of stopping the conflict between New Delhi and Islamabad, it would be in Pakistan because India needed no persuasion to stop.
About US President Donald Trump's repeated claims of having brokered the ceasefire understanding between India and Pakistan, Tharoor said, "No one needed to persuade us to stop. We had already said to stop. If there was any persuasion by the American president or his senior officials, it would have been persuasion of the Pakistanis. They would have had to be persuaded. We don't need to be persuaded because we don't want war."
Speaking to news agency ANI, the Congress MP noted that while India has enormous respect for the American presidency and it will speak with that in mind, it is also a truth that "our understanding is a bit different".
Tharoor affirmed that India does not want conflict, it wants peace, to focus on development, "that's the basic message".
The Congress leader further clarified that from the very day of Operation Sindoor, i.e., May 7, India has sternly stated that it is not interested in prolonging the conflict. "This is not the opening salvo in some sort of war. All it is retribution against the terrorists, period. If Pakistan had not reacted, we wouldn't have reacted," he added.
Trump has repeatedly taken credit for the ceasefire understanding between India and Pakistan, saying that he offered to increase trade with both nations in exchange for a stoppage to the conflict. He has claimed to have stopped a big nuclear crisis from happening.
Meanwhile, Tharoor said that while the American media space is very crowded, it's hard to grasp people's attention. "Therefore, our story may not be at the top of their minds. But if we can get the attention of those who care about South Asia, those who care about India, those who care about terrorism, we can get our message across very, very easily," he added.
The Congress leader noted that the interesting facts about his delegation's visit to the United States will be that the Pakistan delegation will also be there.
"Tomorrow almost they will be in Washington, while we are in Washington on the same date. So there's going to be perhaps an increase in interest because of the fact that there are two duelling delegations in the same city," he added.
Tharoor highlighted India-US ties and said that it is because the Security Council is a small part of India's relationship with the US.
"Whether it comes to trade, whether it comes to defence, whether it comes to intelligence sharing, whether it comes to our participation in the QUAD in the G-20, there are just so many avenues in which we cooperate with the US," he told news agency ANI.
Referring to the delegation sent by Pakistan, Tharoor said that it is not by accident. But he also noted that Islamabad's delegation is not going to as many countries as the Indian groups.
"They're focusing on what they consider a few key capitals, namely. Washington, Brussels. London. That seems to be the thrust of the Pakistani effort. We have gone to all those capitals and more," he added.
Shashi Tharoor detailed his delegation's schedule during its trip to Washington. He said that a series of meetings have been set up with the entire range of public opinion in Washington, government officials, legislators, senators and congressmen, various committees in the House and the Senate, think tanks, media and some public addresses, etc.
The Tharoor-led delegation includes Tejasvi Surya (BJP), Shashank Mani Tripathi (BJP), Bhubaneswar Kalita (BJP), Sarfaraz Ahmad (JMM), Gants Harish Madhur Balayogi (TDP), Milind Deora (Shiv Sena), and India's former Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Sandhu.
The team has so far visited Guyana, Panama, Colombia, and Brazil so far.
Tensions between India and Pakistan heightened in light of the April 22 terror attack that took place in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam, killing 26 persons, mostly civilians. A day after the attack, India decided to impose punitive actions on Pakistan, including the suspension of Indus Waters Treaty and cancellation of visas issued to all Pakistani nationals.
Two weeks later, on May 7, the Indian armed forces launched Operation Sindoor and carried out targeted strikes on nine terrorist infrastructures, linked to the likes of Jaish-e-Mohammad, Lashkar-e-Taiba, among others, inside Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
In this operation, more than 100 terrorists were killed, the Indian government had said.
Following Operation Sindoor, Pakistan tried to launch a retaliatory military action against India, using cross-border shelling, drones, and unarmed aerial vehicles. However, all their bids were thwarted by the armed forces and the Indian air defence systems.
For four days, intense cross-border fighting continued to take place between India and Pakistan. But on May 10, in a surprise announcement, a ceasefire understanding between the nuclear-armed neighbours was reached, wherein they agreed to stop all military actions against each other on land, sea, and air.
The announcement was first made by Trump on his Truth Social network, wherein he claimed to have brokered the understanding following long nights of talks. However, India has clarified that the understanding came to be after the director general of military operations (DGMO) of Pakistan reached out to his Indian government Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai over the hotline, requesting the cessation of military actions against each other. The understanding continues to hold till now.
As many as seven all-party delegations, including members cutting across party lines, were formed to take charge of India's global outreach program on Operation Sindoor.
The delegations' aim is to present India's stance on terrorism, and its strong message of unity and brotherhood, as well as its collective resolve to wipe out terrorism.
The initiative, coordinated by the union government, brought together leaders from both the ruling NDA and opposition parties, showcasing a rare bipartisan consensus on a matter of national security.
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