Jaishankar Rejects Trump’s Claim Of Having Used Trade To Force Ceasefire With Pakistan

Foreign Minister S Jaishankar has described the recent terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam as “an act of economic warfare,” aimed at crippling the tourism sector central to Kashmir’s economy.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Newsweek in New York, Jaishankar emphasised that India would not tolerate “nuclear blackmail” from Pakistan and recounted details of diplomatic exchanges preceding the ceasefire deal between New Delhi and Islamabad.

Rebuffing US President Donald Trump’s assertion that he leveraged trade to force India and Pakistan into a ceasefire following Operation Sindoor, Jaishankar said:

“I can tell you that I was in the room when Vice President Vance spoke to Prime Minister Modi on the night of May 9, saying that the Pakistanis would launch a very massive assault on India… We did not accept certain things, and the Prime Minister was impervious to what the Pakistanis were threatening to do.”

He added, “On the contrary, he (PM Modi) indicated that there would be a response from us.”

According to the minister, Pakistani forces did attack India “massively” on the night of 9 May, prompting a swift response from Indian forces.

The following day, communication resumed between Jaishankar and the US Secretary of State, where Marco Rubio relayed that “Pakistanis were ready to talk.”

Later that day, Pakistan’s DGMO, Major General Kashif Abdullah, contacted his Indian counterpart, Lt Gen Rajiv Ghai, requesting a ceasefire.

Reflecting on the motivations behind the Pahalgam assault, Jaishankar noted, “It was an act of economic warfare. It was meant to destroy tourism in Kashmir, which was the mainstay of the economy. It was also meant to provoke religious violence because people were asked to identify their faith before they were killed.”

Regarding Trump’s statements, Jaishankar firmly countered, “I think the trade people are doing what the trade people should be doing, which is negotiate with numbers and lines and products and do their tradeoffs.” He added, “I think they’re very professional and very, very focused.”

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