NEW DELHI: Following signed declarations by top Donald Trump cabinet members in court that said the President leveraged trade to stop the India-Pakistan conflict, the Indian govt strongly reiterated there was no discussion on trade and tariffs with the US leaders who spoke to Indian authorities in the middle of the fighting and that the “ceasefire” was negotiated directly between the armies. The government also took note of the same court’s ruling that blocked Trump’s Liberation Day tariffs.The MEA referred to the court order on Wednesday and said that India’s position on US claims about having used trade to mediate a ceasefire has been well articulated.“I hope you have seen the court order. I would refer you to our position that was made clear on 13th of May. From the time Operation Sindoor commenced on 7th May till the understanding on cessation of firing and military action on 10th May, there were conversations between Indian and US leaders on the evolving military situation,” said spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal.“The issue of trade or tariff did not come up in any of those discussions. External affairs minister has also made clear that the cessation of firing was decided upon through direct contacts between the DGMOs of India and Pakistan,” he added.India had said on May 13 that there was no mention of trade in the conversation that Vice President J D Vance had with PM Narendra Modi, or the talks secretary of state Marco Rubio had with his counterpart S Jaishankar and NSA Ajit Doval, to stop the conflict.US secretary of commerce Howard Lutnick had said in a declaration in the US Court of International Trade that the ceasefire was only achieved after Trump interceded and offered both nations trading access with the United States to avert a full-scale war. This followed repeated denials by India of such claims, including one by Jaishankar in which he had said that while American authorities were in touch with Indian and Pakistani leaders, the pause in fighting was directly negotiated between the military officers of the two countries.
