New Delhi
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has admitted that India never accepted any third-party mediation in ceasefire talks, undercutting former US President Donald Trump’s repeated claims that he had brokered peace after Operation Sindoor.
Dar said while Pakistan was open to dialogue, India insisted that “it is a bilateral matter.” He revealed that the US had conveyed a ceasefire proposal in May and suggested talks at a neutral venue, but New Delhi did not agree. “When I met [US Secretary of State] Marco Rubio on July 25, he said India insists it is a bilateral issue,” Dar stated.
Dar also confirmed that the May 10 ceasefire offer came through the US, but clarified that India only agreed after Pakistan’s Director-General of Military Operations (DGMO) reached out directly. India later announced that both sides had agreed to halt strikes from 5 pm the same day.
Trump, however, claimed on his platform Truth Social that he had mediated the deal, boasting that US pressure averted a “nuclear war.” India has consistently dismissed such claims, reiterating that any talks with Pakistan are limited to terrorism and that all matters are strictly bilateral under the 1971 Simla Agreement.
Tensions escalated after the Pahalgam terror attack killed 26 tourists in April, prompting India’s Operation Sindoor strikes on nine terror camps. The four days of exchanges pushed the two countries to the brink before Pakistan sought a truce.