India agrees on ceasefire with Pakistan, contradicts US claims of mediation

New Delhi: India and Pakistan on Saturday agreed on a ceasefire after almost four days of military offensives and counter-offensives that almost brought the two neighbouring nations to the brink of war.

That New Delhi and Islamabad agreed to stop cross-border military actions was first announced by United States President Donald Trump and his Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, on social media platforms. The US claimed to have brokered the ceasefire, which India and Pakistan confirmed in New Delhi and Islamabad a short while later.

New Delhi, however, contradicted the Trump Administration’s claim about its mediation between the two South Asian neighbours and insisted that the talks between India’s Director General of Military Operations and his counterpart in Pakistan over the phone had led to an understanding on a ceasefire, “without involvement of a third party”. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government also dismissed the claim made by the United States that India and Pakistan had agreed to hold talks on “a broad set of issues” at “a neutral venue”.

“The Director General of Military Operations of Pakistan called the Director General of Military Operations of India at 1535 hours (IST) earlier today. It was agreed between them that both sides would stop all firing and military action on land and in the air and sea with effect from 1700 hours (IST) today,” Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri announced at a pre-scheduled media briefing in the evening. “Instructions have been given on both sides to give effect to the understanding.”

The DGMOs of India and Pakistan will talk again at 1200 hours on May 12, the foreign secretary said, before leaving the podium in a hurry after making his brief statement.

“After a long night of talks mediated by the United States, I am pleased to announce that India and Pakistan have agreed to a FULL AND IMMEDIATE CEASEFIRE,” Trump posted on Truth Social at 5:25 p.m. – almost 30 minutes before it was announced in New Delhi. “Congratulations to both Countries on using Common Sense and Great Intelligence,” the US president wrote on the social media platform.

Trump’s Secretary of State and National Security Advisor, Marco Rubio, posted on X that he and the US Vice President J D Vance had engaged with senior Indian and Pakistani officials, including prime ministers, Narendra Modi and Shehbaz Sharif, over the past 48 hours, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval of India as well as army chief General Asim Munir and military spy agency chief Asim Malik of Pakistan. “I am pleased to announce the governments of India and Pakistan have agreed to an immediate ceasefire and to start talks on a broad set of issues at a neutral site.”

A source in New Delhi, however, contradicted the US claims and said that the stoppage of firing and military action between India and Pakistan had been “worked out directly between the two countries” and “no third party” had been involved. There is no decision to hold talks on any other issue at any other place, added the source.

India launched Operation Sindoor early on Wednesday, with its armed forces targeting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan as well as in areas of Kashmir under illegal occupation of Pakistan. India launched the offensive a fortnight after the April 22 killing of 26 people, mostly tourists, at Baisaran near Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir by a gang of terrorists owing allegiance to The Resistance Force, a front of the proscribed organisation Lashkar-e-Tayyiba based in Pakistan.

India’s Operation Sindoor was “measured, responsible and designed to be non-escalatory in nature” and the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force only targeted the terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and areas under the control of Pakistan.

Pakistan, however, responded by targeting civilians and military infrastructure in India. The escalatory cross-border attacks by Pakistan were resisted and retaliated by the armed forces of India.

Trump’s and his administration’s public claims about brokering the ceasefire deal between India and Pakistan caused unease in New Delhi. India has been steadfastly maintaining the New Delhi maintains that the 1972 Simla Agreement between India and Pakistan and the 1999 Lahore Declaration had left no scope for the United Nations or any other third party to play any role in resolving the issues between the two South Asian neighbours.

Islamabad, however, recently put in abeyance the Simla Agreement and all other bilateral pacts between India and Pakistan as a retaliatory measure after New Delhi suspended the Indus Water Treaty, 1960, in response to the April 22 carnage in J&K.

“India and Pakistan have today worked out an understanding on the stoppage of firing and military action. India has consistently maintained a firm and uncompromising stance against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. It will continue to do so,” Jaishankar posted on X.

His counterpart, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, also confirmed on X that Pakistan and India had agreed to a ceasefire with immediate effect. “Pakistan has always strived for peace and security in the region, without compromising on its sovereignty and territorial integrity!”

Neither Jaishankar nor Dar mentioned the US mediation, notwithstanding the Trump Administration’s claims.