‘We negotiated between militaries’: Jaishankar refutes Trump’s claims on cessation of hostilities

COPENHAGEN(Denmark): Days after United States President Donald trump claimed that he played a role in settling the escalating tensions between India and Pakistan, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar reiterated that it was the militaries of the two nations that negotiated directly and resolved the conflict through agreement and understanding for a cessation of fire and military action.

The EAM further stated that terrorism is one of the key global challenges that will affect the entire world.

In an interview with Danish media TV2 Channel, S Jaishankar said, “When we look at big global challenges, I think I would put terrorism right up there as one of the key challenges. It will affect the entire world. And we’ve had to grapple with a very serious terrorist attack in April. What followed was a consequence of that, because the terrorists were based in a neighbouring country and were operating with impunity and with a high degree of state protection and support. So, we had the conflict for a few days.”

“Now, we resolved that conflict for the moment in its particular military form through agreement and understanding for a cessation of firing and military action. This was something that we negotiated directly between the militaries of the two countries. The trigger for it was that, after we had had fighting for a few days, we hit them very hard on a particular morning, the morning of the 10th, to be precise. That caused the Pakistanis to say, OK, you know, we’re prepared to stop the firing and, you know, reach an understanding about how to deal with it,” he added.

In a response to a question why India has not cut off its relations with Russia, despite Russia “invaded” Ukraine, Jaishankar replied, “Well, Europe continues to buy energy as well. I mean, just so that we are…”

The EAM further pointed out that the Russia-Ukraine conflict has messed up the global energy situation and the entire food security of many countries has become a problem, fertilizer has become a problem.

Jaishankar stated, “It certainly is a source of concern, not just for India, but for the entire world, that you have a conflict. You have a conflict now into three years and going, which has impacted the entire world in different ways. It has had second order, third order consequences. It has messed up the global energy situation. The food, you know, the entire food security of many countries has become a problem, fertilizer has become a problem.”

Jaishankar is on an official visit to the Netherlands, Denmark, and Germany from May 19 to 24. Earlier in the day, he met with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Berlin and conveyed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s best wishes. (ANI)