Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi held  a 35-minute telephonic conversation with United States (US) President Donald Trump on Wednesday, telling the latter that the ceasefire in May was made between New Delhi and Islamabad without any mediation by the US, Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri has said in a video statement.

 

Misri quoted the Indian premier as telling Trump that “India has never accepted mediation, does not and will never do so.” He said that Modi further told Trump that the decision by India and Pakistan to halt military actions last month was made directly during talks between the armies of the two sides.

 

Additionally, the diplomat said that Modi made it clear to Trump that in the entire episode of the four days of military clashes between the two nuclear-armed countries in last month, issues such as the “India-US trade deal or mediation by the US between India and Pakistan” were not discussed “at no time [or] at any level”.

 

The Indian PM's denial comes after the US president has multiple times reiterated that he, using the trade option, brokered the ceasefire between the two countries, which, according to him, were on the brink of a potential nuclear war last month.

 

Following the US president’s statement on Truth Social on May 10, in which he announced the ceasefire brokered by the US, Islamabad extended thanks to Trump, acknowledging his role in brokering the ceasefire between the two countries. 

 

However, India has repeatedly objected to Trump's role in the understanding made between India and Pakistan to stop the hostilities that erupted after New Delhi launched illegitimate strikes on the night of May 6-7, targeting civilians in Pakistan in response to the Pahalgam militant attack in held Kashmir on April 22 that killed 26 civilians.

The Indian foreign secretary said that a meeting between Modi and Trump was scheduled on the margins of the G7 Summit but couldn’t be held when the US President returned to America early. “Subsequently, at the request of President Trump, the two leaders spoke on the phone today,” he maintained.

 

The diplomat said that New Delhi also made it clear that it would “respond to Pakistan’s bullet with a cannon shell”, adding that on the night of May 9, US vice president JD Vance called Modi, telling him that Pakistan “could launch a major attack on India”. 

 

He reiterated that the decision to halt military action was made directly between India and Pakistan, through existing channels of the two armies, adding that PM Modi stressed that “India has never accepted mediation, does not and will never do so. There is complete political consensus in India on this issue”.