The Indian government has dismissed claims made by U.S. President Donald Trump regarding the temporary ceasefire between India and Pakistan, which he attributed to U.S. trade incentives.
In a weekly press briefing, Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jai Singh stated that senior officials from both New Delhi and Washington had been in communication the previous week following a severe military confrontation between the two nations. However, he emphasized that the topic of trade was not discussed during these talks.
Jai Singh noted, “Trade was not brought up in any of these discussions,” referring to conversations between U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as well as talks between U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar.
Trump had previously claimed that after an agreement was reached on Saturday for India and Pakistan to halt military operations on land, air, and sea, he offered to facilitate trade between the two countries as a condition for their de-escalation.
In remarks to the press on Monday, Trump stated, “I told them we would do a lot of trade with you. Let’s stop this. If you stop it, we will make trade deals. If you don’t stop it, there will be no trade,” suggesting that he believed trade incentives played a crucial role in the countries’ decision. He added, “There are many reasons why, but trade was a significant factor.”
The Indian and Pakistani armies have recently engaged in one of their most intense clashes in decades. This escalation began last Wednesday when India conducted strikes within Pakistan, targeting what it claimed were locations associated with militants involved in an attack that killed 26 tourists in the Indian-controlled region of Kashmir last month. Pakistan has denied any involvement in the attack.