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External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has firmly rejected US President Donald Trump's assertion that America brokered India and Pakistan into a ceasefire agreement through "a series of calls on trade." Talking to a Newsweek interview, Jaishankar revealed a detailed account of the events that unfolded during heightened tensions in May, claiming that trade talks and ceasefire negotiations were never interlinked, as repeatedly claimed by President Trump.

Jaishankar disclosed that he was with Prime Minister Narendra Modi when US Vice President JD Vance called him on May 9. "And in this particular case, I can tell you that I was in the room when Vice President (JD) Vance spoke to Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi on the night of May 9, saying that the Pakistanis would launch a very massive assault on India if we did not accept certain things." he stated. He stressed that India remained firm in the face of the threats. "And the Prime Minister was impervious to what the Pakistanis were threatening to do. On the contrary, he indicated that there would be a response from us. This was the night before and the Pakistanis did attack us massively that night; we responded very quickly thereafter," Jaishankar added.

Jaishankar also stated that the next exchange with Washington after the May 9 call was when US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told him that Pakistan was willing to negotiate. "So I can only tell you from my personal experience what happened. The rest I leave to you," he said to Newsweek. Speaking about the April 22 terror strike in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam, Jaishankar had described it as an "act of economic warfare" meant to wreck tourism in the Valley. The strike, in which the Resistance Front, an organization associated with Pakistan-sponsored Lashkar-e-Taiba, was targeted, left India simmering with rage. Reacting to this, India initiated Operation Sindoor to attack terrorist camps within Pakistan. "It was intended to instigate religious violence as well, because individuals were requested to declare their religion before they were eliminated," he stated. Emphasizing India's staunch position, Jaishankar assured that the nation would not yield to nuclear blackmail or let terrorists act with impunity. "If he is going to come and do things, we are going to go there and also hit the people who did this. So no yielding to nuclear blackmail, no impunity to terrorists, no more free pass that they are proxies. And we will do what we have to do to defend our people," he asserted. He went on to say that India's future policy does not have any room for intermediaries or havens for terrorism. "We will not let nuclear blackmail stop us from reacting," Jaishankar said.

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Jaishankar strongly refuted Trump's claim that he used trade agreements to pressure Pakistan and India to agree to a ceasefire. "The perception that trade was tied to the ceasefire is simply not accurate. The trade negotiators do what they have to do, and diplomacy runs on its own timeline," the Minister averred. President Trump, in The Hague last week, asserted while speaking to reporters, "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."

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Earlier, while signing the peace agreement between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, Trump informed the media that he advised both nuclear-power neighbours, "No trade with US, if India, Pakistan use nuclear weapons at each other." He said his stern warning made both of them pull back. Trump asserted that he instructed Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to "cancel all deals with India and Pakistan" until the conflict de-escalated. "In a few short months, we have achieved peace between India and Pakistan, Israel and Iran, and DRC and Rwanda, and a couple of others also. If you take a look at Pakistan and India... we have two great leaders and they were able to stop. They were midst of a big fight. I guess everybody saw that it was going to get very bad. They are nuclear nations, very powerful nuclear nations. In the months and years ahead, my administration will continue to work closely with all of the parties..." Trump added.