In an interview, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke to him, and US Vice President JD Vance talked to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He stressed that it is natural that nations call up when there are two nations involved in a conflict.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that the ceasefire and de-escalation of military action between India and Pakistan were directly negotiated by the two nations, without third-party mediation. This came days after US President Donald Trump claimed that he played a key role in stopping the tensions between India and Pakistan. In an interview with the Netherlands-based broadcaster NOS, Jaishankar emphasised that India clearly communicated to the international community, including the United States, that Pakistan must directly approach India’s military leadership if it wanted the firing to stop.
Jaishankar noted that senior US officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance, reached out amidst the tensions — Rubio speaking with Jaishankar himself and Vance contacting Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The minister said such diplomatic outreach is expected when two major nations are at odds, but India maintained a firm stance that the decision would lie in direct communication between the concerned militaries.
‘Pakistan initiated ceasefire via hotline’
Responding to a question about whether the armies engaged in dialogue to bring an end to the hostilities, Jaishankar confirmed that communication did indeed happen through the official military hotline. “Yes, we have a mechanism to talk to each other as a hotline. So, on the 10th of May, it was the Pakistani army which sent a message that they were ready to stop firing, and we responded accordingly,” he added. The ceasefire followed India’s powerful military retaliation — Operation Sindoor, which was launched in response to the Pahalgam terror attack that claimed the lives of 26 innocent civilians on April 22.
On being asked about the US role in the cessation of hostilities between India and Pakistan, he responded, “Well, the US was in the United States. Obviously, US Secretary of State Rubio and Vice President Vance had called up, Rubio had spoken to me, Vance had spoken to our Prime Minister, they had their view and they were talking to us and they were talking to the Pakistani side as indeed were some other countries. There were some countries in the Gulf, there were some others as well.”
‘India struck UN-listed terror sites’
Jaishankar also spoke about the PM Modi-led government’s policy that India will give a response if there is an attack like the one that took place in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam on April 22. He said that India targeted the terrorist sites mentioned in the UN list and he even showed the list to the journalist. He noted that the Pakistani military chose to fire on India following India’s attack on terror sites, and India responded to their attack. He stated that India’s attack on Pakistani airbases and air defence system on May 10 forced their military to accept that the two nations need to stop firing on each other.
Outlining India’s approach to counter-terrorism, External Affairs Minister Jaishankar said that Operation Sindoor is continuing as India will respond if there is another terror attack like the one at Pahalgam and target terrorists if they are operating from Pakistan. “The operation continues because there is a clear message in that operation, that if there are acts of the kind we saw on April 22nd, there will be a response, we will hit the terrorists. If the terrorists are in Pakistan, we will hit them where they are. So, there is a message in continuing the operation. But, continuing the operation is not the same as firing on each other. Right now, there is an agreed cessation of firing and military action,” Jaishankar told NOS.
Jaishankar said that The Resistance Front (TRF), a group created by Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), has taken responsibility for the terrorist attack in Pahalgam. He stated that India has identified the attackers and they are linked to LeT. He recalled how India had informed the UN Security Council’s 1267 Sanctions Committee about TRF in 2023, 2024 and 2024. He even showed the UN list to the journalist during the interview.
India-Pakistan conflict
Following India’s Operation Sindoor, Pakistan retaliated with cross-border shelling across the Line of Control and Jammu and Kashmir as well as attempted drone attacks along the border regions, following which India launched a coordinated attack and damaged radar infrastructure, communication centres and airfields across airbases in Pakistan. On May 10, India and Pakistan reached an understanding on the cessation of hostilities.
(With inputs from ANI)
