India reiterated its rejection of US President Donald Trump's offer to mediate in the dispute with Pakistan over J&K, and said India had a long-standing national position that any issue pertaining to the Union Territory would be addressed by India and Pakistan bilaterally.
"That stated policy has not changed. As you are aware, the outstanding matter is the vacation of illegally occupied Indian territory by Pakistan," MEA said.
Government also rejected the US president's claim that he had threatened to stop trade with India and Pakistan to get them to agree to a "ceasefire".
"From the time Op Sindoor started on May 7 till the understanding on cessation of military action on May 10, there were conversations between Indian and US leaders on the evolving military situation. The issue of trade did not come up in any of these discussions," MEA said.
Amid repeated claims by Trump that he had mediated a "ceasefire", govt reiterated that the specific date, time and wording of the understanding was worked out between the DGMOs during their phone call at 3.35 pm on Saturday.
The request for this call was received by MEA from the Pakistani high commission at 1237 hours, Jaiswal said. "The Pakistani side had initial difficulties connecting the hotline for technical reasons. The timing was then decided based on the availability of the Indian DGMO at 1535 hours," he added.
"Early on 10th morning, we had mounted an extremely effective attack on key Pakistan Air Force bases. That was the reason they were now willing to stop firing and military action. Let me be clear. It was the force of Indian arms that compelled Pakistan to stop its firing," Jaiswal said.
Government also said the message from India to countries that were in touch with both parties was clear, consistent and the same as what was announced from public platforms.
