‘Force of Indian arms compelled Pakistan to seek ceasefire’: India confirms no trade talks with US during Operation Sindoor

New Delhi: India Government on Tuesday reiterated that the issue of trade didn’t arise during any talks with America while Operation Sindoor was underway. Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said Indian armed forces’ prowess and might compelled Pakistan to stop firing.

“You will of course appreciate that early on (May) 10th morning, we had mounted an extremely effective attack on key Pakistani Air Force bases. That was the reason they were now willing to stop firing and military action. Let me be clear. It was the force of Indian arms that compelled Pakistan to stop its firing,” he said.

Jaiswal again highlighted that India’s policy on issues pertaining to Jammu and Kashmir remains unchanged.

He stated that the matter of the union territory is a bilateral issue and concerns Pakistan’s illegal occupation of Jammu and Kashmir.

“We have a long-standing national position that any issues pertaining to the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir have to be addressed by India and Pakistan bilaterally; that stated policy has not changed. The outstanding matter is the vacation of illegally occupied Indian territory by Pakistan,” Jaiswal said.

Speaking about the ceasefire agreement on May 10, Jaiswal stated it was Pakistan who took the first step toward the understanding and called. Initially, they faced some technical issues in reaching out to the Indian side by phone, but later, both sides agreed on a suitable time for talks.

“The specific date, time and wording of the understanding was worked out between the DGMOs of the two countries at their phone call on 10 May 2025 commencing 1535 hrs. The request for this call was received by the MEA from the Pakistani High Commission at 1237 hrs. The Pakistani side had initial difficulties connecting the hotline to the Indian side for technical reasons. The timing was then decided based on the availability of the Indian DGMO at 1535 hrs,” he said.

“As regards conversations with other nations, the message from India was clear and consistent. And exactly the same message that we were conveying from public platforms was the one conveyed in private conversations. It was that India was responding to the 22 April terrorist attack by targeting the terrorist infrastructure,” he said.

The MEA spokesperson reiterated that India was merely responding to the Pakistani firing attack and that it would stop if the other side stopped. This message was conveyed to Pakistan at the start of Operation Sindoor.

“However, if the Pakistani armed forces fire, Indian armed forces will fire back; if Pakistan stops, India will also stop. This was also the message that was conveyed to the Pakistani side at the time of the commencement of Operation Sindoor, which was not heeded to by the Pakistani side at that time. It is natural that many foreign leaders who heard this from us would have shared it with their Pakistani interlocutors,” he said.

While addressing the armed forces at the Adampur Air Base earlier today, PM Modi praised the Indian Armed Forces for the success of the operation. He stated that the slogan ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ represents every soldier who is ready to sacrifice their life for the country. He added that it resonates both on the battlefield and during missions.

(with ANI inputs)

News