• Source:JND
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Hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi fact-checked the US administration's claim of brokering a ceasefire between India and Pakistan, US President Donald Trump has once again asserted that his government played a key role in bringing peace between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. 

"Well, I stopped a war ... I love Pakistan. I think Modi is a fantastic man. I spoke to him last night. We're going to make a trade deal with Modi of India. But I stopped the war between Pakistan and India. This man was extremely influential in stopping it from the Pakistan side. Modi from the India side and others. They were going at it - and they're both nuclear countries. I got it stopped," he said while speaking to reporters.

Earlier today, PM Modi spoke with Trump and set the record straight that Operation Sindoor was “paused” following a request from Pakistan and not due to mediation or offer of a trade deal by the US. In a 35-minute phone call with Trump on Tuesday, PM Modi briefed the US President on Operation Sindoor, launched by India against terror sites in Pakistan and made it clear that countries that support terrorism must face the consequences. This was the first conversation between Trump and Modi after the pause in Operation Sindoor last month.

US not involved in India-Pakistan ceasefire: PM Modi clears Trump

"PM Modi clarified that no topics related to trade were discussed in connection with Operation Sindoor. He asserted that India has never accepted third-party mediation and will not accept such mediation,” Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said in a statement on the Modi-Trump phone call.

During the phone call on Tuesday, Modi said India responded strongly to Pakistan's attack on the intervening night of May 9-10, which led to heavy losses to Pakistan's military infrastructure and rendered their airbases inoperable. PM Modi told Trump that India's strong response to Pakistan forced it to urge India to stop the military campaign.

The Prime Minister told Trump clearly that in this entire chain of events, there was no discussion of an India-US trade deal and there was no reference to US mediation between India and Pakistan, Misri said. PM Modi made it clear that the decision to halt military action was taken in direct talks between India and Pakistan using the existing channels and at the insistence of Pakistan.

India will not accept mediation: PM Modi tells Trump

Prime Minister Modi firmly made it clear that India will not accept any mediation in its dealings with Pakistan and there is bipartisan/political unity on this issue. Misri said Trump understood the issue after hearing the Prime Minister and expressed support for India's fight against terrorism. “Modi told Trump that henceforth India will not treat terrorism as a proxy war but as an act of war, and Operation Sindoor was still continuing,” Misri said.

Misri said PM Modi and Trump were scheduled to meet on the sidelines of the G-7 meeting, but it could not fructify as the US President left early. He said Trump insisted on having a conversation with Modi, after which the call was set up.

Trump to meet Pakistani Army chief

Trump's fresh claim of ceasefire and PM Modi's phone call came on the same day when the US President is set to host Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir in Washington. The rare one-on-one meeting between a Pakistani military chief and a US president riled India after the worst fighting between the nuclear-armed rivals in South Asia for decades, which Trump took responsibility for helping defuse. 

(With inputs from agencies)