India on Monday, May 12, 2025, reiterated its traditional stand that any issues relating to Jammu and Kashmir must be addressed bilaterally with Pakistan.
Addressing a media briefing, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said “We have a long-standing national position that any issues pertaining to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir have to be addressed by India and Pakistan bilaterally. That stated policy has not changed. The outstanding matter is the vacation of illegally occupied Indian territory by Pakistan.”
Answering a query, he said the issue of trade did not come up in any of the discussions with US officials. That is contrary to statements made by President Trump who claimed that the so-called ceasefire and ensuing relative calm on the border was a result of promising more trade with the US.
“From the time Operation Sindoor commenced on May 7 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. The issue of trade did not come up in any of these discussions,” Jaiswal said.
Jaiswal was responding to question about US President Donald Trump’s remarks in which he had mentioned trade in the context of US efforts to sort out tensions between India and Pakistan.
The US President said on Monday, claimed, “We stopped a nuclear conflict. I think it could have been a bad nuclear war. Millions of people could have been killed. I also want to thank VP JD Vance and Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, for their work. On Saturday, my administration helped broker an immediate cessation of hostilities, I think a permanent one between India and Pakistan the countries having a lot of nuclear weapons,” Trump told the media.
“I’m very proud to let you know that the leadership of India and Pakistan was unwavering and powerful… And we helped a lot, and we also helped with trade. I said, ‘Come on, we’re going to do a lot of trade with you guys. Let’s stop it, let’s stop it. If you stop it, we’re doing trade. If you don’t stop it, we’re not going to do any trade,” Trump added.
India’s precision strikes on terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and PoJK came in response to the Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 people were brutally murdered in front of their family members. The government had said that the perpetrators will face severe punishment and over 100 terrorists were killed in Operation Sindoor.
The two countries have now reached an understanding to stop firing and military action after Pakistan DGMO reached out to his Indian counterpart, New Delhi has maintained.
