Shashi Tharoor rejects Trump's mediation claims: 'India didn't need any persuasion'

Shashi Tharoor

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Monday rejected President Donald Trump's repeated claims that US brokered a ceasefire between India and Pakistan, asserting that no persuasion from Washington was necessary since New Delhi had no interest in prolonging the conflict.

Tharoor, who is currently leading a multi-party delegation on Operation Sindoor in Brazil, clarified that India's position on the conflict was spelt out clearly from the beginning.

"We have enormous respect for American presidency ... but broadly speaking our understanding is a bit different. We had consistently said from the very beginning (on May 7), that we weren't interested in prolonging the conflict. This (Operation Sindoor) is not the opening salvo in some sort of war. It was retribution against the terrorists. If Pakistan hadn't reacted, we wouldn't have reacted," Tharoor told ANI.

"Throughout every day (of the conflict), the message was the same from India to everybody who would listen: if they hit, we hit; if they stop, we stop. This message was given to everybody," he added.

The Congress MP said that if anything, it was Pakistan that needed US persuation and not India.

"No one needed to persuade us to stop. We had already said to stop. If there was any persuasion by the American president or his senior officials, it would have been persuasion of the Pakistanis. They would have had to be persuaded. We don’t need to be persuaded because we don’t want war. We want to focus on development. That’s the basic message,” Tharoor said.

India has consistently rejected claims that US mediation led to a ceasefire understanding with Pakistan following an intense four-day conflict.

External affairs minister S Jaishankar had earlier said that New Delhi and Islamabad had “directly negotiated" the ceasefire.

He said that several countries were in touch with India when Operation Sindoor was underway between May 7 and 10, stressing that “the US was not alone".

The Indian delegation, headed by Shashi Tharoor, will visit US for the final leg of its tour. Coincidentally, a Pakistani delegation led by former Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari will also be in the US on Tuesday. Both teams aim to rally support for their respective nations from American lawmakers and political figures.