Former diplomats say the U.S. President’s comments violate Indian principles of de-hyphenation, no mediation or internationalisation
A day after New Delhi rejected claims by the U.S. of brokering or mediating its ceasefire “understanding” with Pakistan, U.S. President Donald Trump doubled down on the claims again, and offered to help find a solution for the Kashmir dispute as well. While the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) made no formal comment on Mr. Trump’s statements, including those by his officials and the U.S. State Department, sources indicated that they were not accurate or welcome.
India-Pakistan ceasefire updates on May 11, 2025
In a post on social media platform Truth Social, the U.S. President complimented the “strong and unwaveringly powerful leadership of India and Pakistan” for ending the “current aggression that could have led to the death and destruction of so many, and so much”, adding that “millions” could have died in a conflict.
“I am proud that the U.S. was able to help you arrive at this historic and heroic decision,” Mr. Trump said, repeating his claim from Saturday (May 10, 2025) when he announced the India-Pakistan DGMO agreement even before it had been announced by the governments.
“While not even discussed, I am going to increase trade substantially with both of these great nations. Additionally, I will work with you both to see if, after a “thousand years,” a solution can be arrived at concerning Kashmir,” he said. Mr. Trump’s erroneous reference to a “thousand years” of India-Pakistan conflict is not a first. In 2019, during a press conference with former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, he also claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had requested him to help mediate on the Kashmir issue, and set off a controversy, and the Modi Government denied in Parliament that any such request had been made.
The post by Mr. Trump, continued from his previous post on Saturday (May 10, 2025), where he had said that a “full and immediate ceasefire” had been reached “after a long night of talks mediated by the United States”. U.S. Vice-President J.D. Vance, U.S. NSA and Secretary of State Marco Rubio had echoed the comments, giving details of the talks, and Deputy Secretary Christopher Landau said he had witnessed Mr. Rubio “tirelessly working the phones with the leaders of both India and Pakistan to prevent a dangerous escalation of the situation”.
Express helplessness
Officials briefing the media on Sunday (May 11, 2025) reiterated India’s stand and stressed that the negotiations with Pakistan had been conducted directly through the DGMOs only, but expressed their helplessness in preventing Mr. Trump from posting. Mr. Trump regularly uses Truth Social to make official announcements, reveal diplomatically sensitive details of ongoing negotiations, and often criticise or praise world leaders he has spoken to, rather than more formal channels.
Former diplomats told The Hindu that while it was quite common for the U.S. to make “parallel calls” to Delhi and Islamabad every time there has been a conflict in the past as well, India’s three-pronged policy has been firm about not allowing any third-party mediation, ensuring there is no internationalisation of internal matters, and that there is no “hyphenation” with Pakistan. As a result, Mr. Trump’s claims of mediating, offering to resolve the Kashmir dispute, as well as equating India and Pakistan as two “great nations”, especially on trade, where India and U.S. are negotiating an FTA to double current levels of bilateral trade of $130 billion, while U.S. and Pakistan have bilateral trade of less than $10 billion violate those precepts, they said.
“It is vital, in order to preserve the integrity of India’s long-standing approaches to Pakistan which are rooted in a national consensus, that the MEA fully clarifies on record the country’s viewpoint on President Trump’s posts on Truth Social and the formal U.S. State department statement entitled “Announcing a U.S.-Brokered Ceasefire between India and Pakistan”, former ambassador Vivek Katju, who dealt with Pakistan as joint secretary, said.
Former Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran said the tweet by Mr. Trump “has brought back the India-Pakistan hyphenation that we thought we had left behind us,” adding that the “rise of India and the expanding power gap with Pakistan may eventually restore de-hyphenation.”
Former Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said that by casting both nations in an identical light — Trump’s words “appear to equate India with Pakistan, a strategic partner pivotal in countering whose role in the region carries different weight” but said the statements suggest a “momentary ripple rather than a rupture” in the India-U.S. relationship.
U.S. President Donald Trump repeats claims of U.S. role in ceasefire, offers to help on Kashmir
Former diplomats say the U.S. President’s comments violate Indian principles of de-hyphenation, no mediation or internationalisation
A day after New Delhi rejected claims by the U.S. of brokering or mediating its ceasefire “understanding” with Pakistan, U.S. President Donald Trump doubled down on the claims again, and offered to help find a solution for the Kashmir dispute as well. While the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) made no formal comment on Mr. Trump’s statements, including those by his officials and the U.S. State Department, sources indicated that they were not accurate or welcome.
India-Pakistan ceasefire updates on May 11, 2025
In a post on social media platform Truth Social, the U.S. President complimented the “strong and unwaveringly powerful leadership of India and Pakistan” for ending the “current aggression that could have led to the death and destruction of so many, and so much”, adding that “millions” could have died in a conflict.
“I am proud that the U.S. was able to help you arrive at this historic and heroic decision,” Mr. Trump said, repeating his claim from Saturday (May 10, 2025) when he announced the India-Pakistan DGMO agreement even before it had been announced by the governments.
“While not even discussed, I am going to increase trade substantially with both of these great nations. Additionally, I will work with you both to see if, after a “thousand years,” a solution can be arrived at concerning Kashmir,” he said. Mr. Trump’s erroneous reference to a “thousand years” of India-Pakistan conflict is not a first. In 2019, during a press conference with former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, he also claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had requested him to help mediate on the Kashmir issue, and set off a controversy, and the Modi Government denied in Parliament that any such request had been made.
The post by Mr. Trump, continued from his previous post on Saturday (May 10, 2025), where he had said that a “full and immediate ceasefire” had been reached “after a long night of talks mediated by the United States”. U.S. Vice-President J.D. Vance, U.S. NSA and Secretary of State Marco Rubio had echoed the comments, giving details of the talks, and Deputy Secretary Christopher Landau said he had witnessed Mr. Rubio “tirelessly working the phones with the leaders of both India and Pakistan to prevent a dangerous escalation of the situation”.
Express helplessness
Officials briefing the media on Sunday (May 11, 2025) reiterated India’s stand and stressed that the negotiations with Pakistan had been conducted directly through the DGMOs only, but expressed their helplessness in preventing Mr. Trump from posting. Mr. Trump regularly uses Truth Social to make official announcements, reveal diplomatically sensitive details of ongoing negotiations, and often criticise or praise world leaders he has spoken to, rather than more formal channels.
Former diplomats told The Hindu that while it was quite common for the U.S. to make “parallel calls” to Delhi and Islamabad every time there has been a conflict in the past as well, India’s three-pronged policy has been firm about not allowing any third-party mediation, ensuring there is no internationalisation of internal matters, and that there is no “hyphenation” with Pakistan. As a result, Mr. Trump’s claims of mediating, offering to resolve the Kashmir dispute, as well as equating India and Pakistan as two “great nations”, especially on trade, where India and U.S. are negotiating an FTA to double current levels of bilateral trade of $130 billion, while U.S. and Pakistan have bilateral trade of less than $10 billion violate those precepts, they said.
“It is vital, in order to preserve the integrity of India’s long-standing approaches to Pakistan which are rooted in a national consensus, that the MEA fully clarifies on record the country’s viewpoint on President Trump’s posts on Truth Social and the formal U.S. State department statement entitled “Announcing a U.S.-Brokered Ceasefire between India and Pakistan”, former ambassador Vivek Katju, who dealt with Pakistan as joint secretary, said.
Former Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran said the tweet by Mr. Trump “has brought back the India-Pakistan hyphenation that we thought we had left behind us,” adding that the “rise of India and the expanding power gap with Pakistan may eventually restore de-hyphenation.”
Former Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said that by casting both nations in an identical light — Trump’s words “appear to equate India with Pakistan, a strategic partner pivotal in countering whose role in the region carries different weight” but said the statements suggest a “momentary ripple rather than a rupture” in the India-U.S. relationship.
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