India rebuts Trump's claim of trade as a tool used to help in reaching understanding: Sources

New Delhi [India], May 12 : India has swiftly rebutted US President Donald Trump's claim that trade was a factor in the cessation of hostilities between India and Pakistan, according to the sources.

"After Operation Sindoor commenced, US Vice President JD Vance spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 9. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on May 8 and May 10 and with the National Security Adviser Ajit Doval on May 10, and there were no discussions on trade, sources confirmed on Monday.

Trump's assertion that he would increase trade "substantially" with both nations after the cessation of hostilities has sparked a debate.

Earlier, while addressing a press conference with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Trump claimed that his administration played a crucial role in brokering an immediate cessation of hostilities between India and Pakistan, following escalating tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.

"On Saturday, my administration helped broker an immediate cessation of hostilities, I think a permanent one between India and Pakistan - the countries having a lot of nuclear weapons," he said.

"We helped a lot, and we also helped with trade. I said, 'Come on, we're going to do a lot of trade with you guys. Let's stop it, let's stop it. If you stop it, we're doing trade. If you don't stop it, we're not going to do any trade," Trump stated, highlighting his administration's use of trade leverage to encourage peace.

Notably, on April 22, terror struck Pahalgam. Pakistan-backed attackers stormed a village, asked people their religion, and killed them, resulting in 26 deaths. A clear attempt to incite communal violence, this marked a shift, from cross-border attacks to dividing India from within. In response, India launched Operation Sindoor to destroy the terror bases behind the attack.

India was and is not ready to accept any kind of assurance from a third party. We maintained that DGMO has to come online and speak and say this, not the Americans, not their NSA, no back channel, we wanted to hear from the DGMO, and that is when DGMOs decided on cessation of hostilities, according to the sources.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio intervened, speaking with Pakistan Army Chief General Asim Munir. General Munir expressed willingness to talk to stop military action, however, India maintained that it would only consider cessation of hostilities based on direct communication between the DGMOs of both countries.

The DGMOs eventually agreed on a cessation of hostilities, bringing a temporary halt to the military action.

The response from Pakistan was to hit hard. They sent drones. They hit targets in India. India then hit back and hit their airbases. Then, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called again. He had spoken with Pakistan army chief General Asim Munir. He said that he was ready to talk to stop military action, said the sources.

The escalation between India and Pakistan intensified after Pakistan launched drone attacks targeting Indian sites, prompting a swift and forceful response from India.

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