No foreign country mediated in Indo-Pak ceasefire: Govt

New Delhi, Jul 25: The Government of India has dismissed claims of U.S. interference in the recent ceasefire between India and Pakistan, asserting that the decision to halt military operations was based on India’s own strategic objectives, particularly targeting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (PoJK).
In a written response to a question in the Lok Sabha, the Ministry of External Affairs said that the ceasefire on May 10, 2025, was the outcome of a direct contact between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of India and Pakistan. Notably, this contact was initiated by Pakistan, days after India had already achieved its military objectives.
The reply said that India had destroyed the designated terror camps linked to the April 22 terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Kashmir, by May 8, two days before the ceasefire came into effect. This, the government said, was a “focused, measured and non-escalatory” response, carried out with clarity and restraint.
While the government acknowledged that diplomatic interactions took place with multiple countries, including the United States, it strongly denied that any external power influenced India’s decision to stop the operations.
“The issue of trade discussions did not come up in any conversations related to the conflict,” the government said in response to speculation that the U.S. linked trade concessions to the ceasefire.
On May 9, just a day before the ceasefire, India informed U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance that it would respond decisively if Pakistan escalated the situation.
The Ministry also reaffirmed India’s consistent policy that there will be no third-party mediation on the Kashmir issue. “All outstanding issues with Pakistan will be discussed bilaterally,” it stated, adding that even Prime Minister Modi had conveyed this directly to the US President. (KNS)