Kashmir a ‘bilateral’ issue to be addressed within the framework of India-Pakistan ties, says MEA; trade did not figure in talks between India, U.S. against the backdrop of Operation Sindoor
Responding to U.S. President Donald Trump’s remarks on the Kashmir issue, India on Tuesday (May 13, 2025) reiterated its “long-standing national position” that regards Jammu and Kashmir as a “bilateral” issue to be addressed within the framework of India-Pakistan ties.
Mr. Trump, who has been speaking on his behind-the-scene role in bringing the hostilities between India and Pakistan to a pause, doubled down on the same in a speech in Saudi Arabia capital Riyadh on Tuesday.
In the weekly media briefing, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal reminded that the only subject India wished to raise was about Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and that the matter of India-U.S. trade did not figure in the telephone conversations the leadership of India and the U.S. held against the backdrop of Operation Sindoor, which targeted nine terror locations inside Pakistan and PoK on May 7.
India-Pakistan ceasefire LIVE: May 13, 2025
“We have a long-standing national position that any issues pertaining to the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir have to be addressed by India and Pakistan bilaterally. That stated policy has not changed,” Mr. Jaiswal said, adding, “The outstanding matter is the vacation of illegally occupied Indian territory [Pakistan-occupied Kashmir] by Pakistan.”
Shortly before India announced the “understanding” to pause firing and military action, Mr. Trump had made a surprise announcement on social media platform Truth Social on May 10, informing that the U.S. had mediated between India and Pakistan, leading to a “full and immediate ceasefire”. The announcements from the Indian side were made by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar thereafter. Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar announced the “ceasefire with immediate effect” the same evening.
On Monday (May 12, 2025), Mr. Trump elaborated on his earlier statements while interacting with reporters at the White House. “I said [to the Indian and Pakistani leadership], 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,” Mr. Trump said.
“I think it could have been a bad nuclear war. Millions of people could have been killed. So I’m very proud of that,” he added.
Mr. Trump, who reached Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, reiterated his offer to promote trade and added that his administration brought about a “historic ceasefire” between India and Pakistan after Operation Sindoor. “Just days ago, my administration successfully brokered a historic ceasefire to stop the escalating violence between India and Pakistan and I used trade to a large extent to do it. I said, fellows let us do some trade. Let us not trade nuclear missiles,” Mr. Trump said in a speech at the Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum. He praised Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice-President J.D. Vance for the pause in military action between India and Pakistan.
However, Mr. Jaiswal pushed back on the reference to trade and said the Indian and U.S. leaders had held “conversations” since Operation Sindoor commenced on May 7, but “the issue of trade did not come up in any of these discussions”.
He said Operation Sindoor was “entirely in the conventional domain”, denying Mr. Trump’s claims on a possible escalation involving a nuclear scenario between India and Pakistan.
“As you know, India has a firm stance that it will not give in to nuclear blackmail or allow cross-border terrorism to be conducted invoking it. In conversations with various countries, we also cautioned that their subscribing to such scenarios could hurt them in their own region,” Mr. Jaiswal said.
India denied the role of a third-party mediator and reiterated that the pause in hostilities, as declared on May 10, was worked out between the Directors-General of Military Operations of the two sides during their telephone call that took place at 3.35 p.m.
Mr. Jaiswal repeated India’s original description of Operation Sindoor as a move to target “terrorist infrastructure”, informing that this was what India conveyed to other world leaders. “We would target terrorist infrastructure operating out of Pakistan. If the Pakistani military stayed out, there would be no problem,” Mr. Jaiswal said, arguing that “it is natural that many foreign leaders who heard this from us would have shared it with their Pakistani interlocutors”.
India reasserts Kashmir stand after Trump poser
Kashmir a ‘bilateral’ issue to be addressed within the framework of India-Pakistan ties, says MEA; trade did not figure in talks between India, U.S. against the backdrop of Operation Sindoor
Responding to U.S. President Donald Trump’s remarks on the Kashmir issue, India on Tuesday (May 13, 2025) reiterated its “long-standing national position” that regards Jammu and Kashmir as a “bilateral” issue to be addressed within the framework of India-Pakistan ties.
Mr. Trump, who has been speaking on his behind-the-scene role in bringing the hostilities between India and Pakistan to a pause, doubled down on the same in a speech in Saudi Arabia capital Riyadh on Tuesday.
In the weekly media briefing, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal reminded that the only subject India wished to raise was about Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and that the matter of India-U.S. trade did not figure in the telephone conversations the leadership of India and the U.S. held against the backdrop of Operation Sindoor, which targeted nine terror locations inside Pakistan and PoK on May 7.
India-Pakistan ceasefire LIVE: May 13, 2025
“We have a long-standing national position that any issues pertaining to the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir have to be addressed by India and Pakistan bilaterally. That stated policy has not changed,” Mr. Jaiswal said, adding, “The outstanding matter is the vacation of illegally occupied Indian territory [Pakistan-occupied Kashmir] by Pakistan.”
Shortly before India announced the “understanding” to pause firing and military action, Mr. Trump had made a surprise announcement on social media platform Truth Social on May 10, informing that the U.S. had mediated between India and Pakistan, leading to a “full and immediate ceasefire”. The announcements from the Indian side were made by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar thereafter. Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar announced the “ceasefire with immediate effect” the same evening.
On Monday (May 12, 2025), Mr. Trump elaborated on his earlier statements while interacting with reporters at the White House. “I said [to the Indian and Pakistani leadership], 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,” Mr. Trump said.
“I think it could have been a bad nuclear war. Millions of people could have been killed. So I’m very proud of that,” he added.
Mr. Trump, who reached Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, reiterated his offer to promote trade and added that his administration brought about a “historic ceasefire” between India and Pakistan after Operation Sindoor. “Just days ago, my administration successfully brokered a historic ceasefire to stop the escalating violence between India and Pakistan and I used trade to a large extent to do it. I said, fellows let us do some trade. Let us not trade nuclear missiles,” Mr. Trump said in a speech at the Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum. He praised Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice-President J.D. Vance for the pause in military action between India and Pakistan.
However, Mr. Jaiswal pushed back on the reference to trade and said the Indian and U.S. leaders had held “conversations” since Operation Sindoor commenced on May 7, but “the issue of trade did not come up in any of these discussions”.
He said Operation Sindoor was “entirely in the conventional domain”, denying Mr. Trump’s claims on a possible escalation involving a nuclear scenario between India and Pakistan.
“As you know, India has a firm stance that it will not give in to nuclear blackmail or allow cross-border terrorism to be conducted invoking it. In conversations with various countries, we also cautioned that their subscribing to such scenarios could hurt them in their own region,” Mr. Jaiswal said.
India denied the role of a third-party mediator and reiterated that the pause in hostilities, as declared on May 10, was worked out between the Directors-General of Military Operations of the two sides during their telephone call that took place at 3.35 p.m.
Mr. Jaiswal repeated India’s original description of Operation Sindoor as a move to target “terrorist infrastructure”, informing that this was what India conveyed to other world leaders. “We would target terrorist infrastructure operating out of Pakistan. If the Pakistani military stayed out, there would be no problem,” Mr. Jaiswal said, arguing that “it is natural that many foreign leaders who heard this from us would have shared it with their Pakistani interlocutors”.
Kashmir a ‘bilateral’ issue to be addressed within the framework of India-Pakistan ties, says MEA; trade did not figure in talks between India, U.S. against the backdrop of Operation Sindoor
Responding to U.S. President Donald Trump’s remarks on the Kashmir issue, India on Tuesday (May 13, 2025) reiterated its “long-standing national position” that regards Jammu and Kashmir as a “bilateral” issue to be addressed within the framework of India-Pakistan ties.
Mr. Trump, who has been speaking on his behind-the-scene role in bringing the hostilities between India and Pakistan to a pause, doubled down on the same in a speech in Saudi Arabia capital Riyadh on Tuesday.
In the weekly media briefing, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal reminded that the only subject India wished to raise was about Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and that the matter of India-U.S. trade did not figure in the telephone conversations the leadership of India and the U.S. held against the backdrop of Operation Sindoor, which targeted nine terror locations inside Pakistan and PoK on May 7.
India-Pakistan ceasefire LIVE: May 13, 2025
“We have a long-standing national position that any issues pertaining to the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir have to be addressed by India and Pakistan bilaterally. That stated policy has not changed,” Mr. Jaiswal said, adding, “The outstanding matter is the vacation of illegally occupied Indian territory [Pakistan-occupied Kashmir] by Pakistan.”
Shortly before India announced the “understanding” to pause firing and military action, Mr. Trump had made a surprise announcement on social media platform Truth Social on May 10, informing that the U.S. had mediated between India and Pakistan, leading to a “full and immediate ceasefire”. The announcements from the Indian side were made by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar thereafter. Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar announced the “ceasefire with immediate effect” the same evening.
On Monday (May 12, 2025), Mr. Trump elaborated on his earlier statements while interacting with reporters at the White House. “I said [to the Indian and Pakistani leadership], 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,” Mr. Trump said.
“I think it could have been a bad nuclear war. Millions of people could have been killed. So I’m very proud of that,” he added.
Mr. Trump, who reached Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, reiterated his offer to promote trade and added that his administration brought about a “historic ceasefire” between India and Pakistan after Operation Sindoor. “Just days ago, my administration successfully brokered a historic ceasefire to stop the escalating violence between India and Pakistan and I used trade to a large extent to do it. I said, fellows let us do some trade. Let us not trade nuclear missiles,” Mr. Trump said in a speech at the Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum. He praised Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice-President J.D. Vance for the pause in military action between India and Pakistan.
However, Mr. Jaiswal pushed back on the reference to trade and said the Indian and U.S. leaders had held “conversations” since Operation Sindoor commenced on May 7, but “the issue of trade did not come up in any of these discussions”.
He said Operation Sindoor was “entirely in the conventional domain”, denying Mr. Trump’s claims on a possible escalation involving a nuclear scenario between India and Pakistan.
“As you know, India has a firm stance that it will not give in to nuclear blackmail or allow cross-border terrorism to be conducted invoking it. In conversations with various countries, we also cautioned that their subscribing to such scenarios could hurt them in their own region,” Mr. Jaiswal said.
India denied the role of a third-party mediator and reiterated that the pause in hostilities, as declared on May 10, was worked out between the Directors-General of Military Operations of the two sides during their telephone call that took place at 3.35 p.m.
Mr. Jaiswal repeated India’s original description of Operation Sindoor as a move to target “terrorist infrastructure”, informing that this was what India conveyed to other world leaders. “We would target terrorist infrastructure operating out of Pakistan. If the Pakistani military stayed out, there would be no problem,” Mr. Jaiswal said, arguing that “it is natural that many foreign leaders who heard this from us would have shared it with their Pakistani interlocutors”.
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