New Delhi [India], July 28 : Noting that Operation Sindoor marks a new face and a new normal in India's fight against cross-border terrorism, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday firmly rejected claims of any third-party mediation in cessation of hostilities between India and Pakistan and also said that at no stage, in any conversation with the United States, was there "any linkage with trade and what was going on".
Jaishankar, who took part in the debate in Lok Sabha on Operation Sindoor, said there are 193 nations in the United Nations and only three countries, apart from Pakistan, opposed Operation Sindoor.
The Minister, who gave point by point rebuttal to the points raised by opposition, said India brought out to the international community Pakistan's long-standing use of cross-border terrorism.
He rejected opposition criticism of government following US President Donald Trump's repeated claims of mediation in ending hostilities between India and Pakistan.
The Minister said there was no call between PM Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump from April 22 to June 17.
Jaishankar said that on May 9, US Vice President JD Vance called Prime Minister Narendra Modi, warning of a massive Pakistani attack in the next few hours.
"Prime Minister, in his response, made it very clear that if such an attack happens, it would meet with an appropriate response from us. That attack took place and was foiled by our Armed Forces, and I think the House should collectively appreciate the performance of the Armed Forces in foiling what was a massive attack on the 9th and 10th of May. Our response, which the Prime Minister promised, was delivered, and it was delivered with devastating effect. I don't have to say anything. Every member has seen satellite pictures of Pakistani airfields. You can see from the state of those airfields, which is shown by the pictures, what was our answer," the Union Minister said.
India carried out Operation Sindoor on early on May 7 in response to April 22 Pahalgam terror attack and carried out precision strikes on terror infrastructure in Pakistan and PoJK. India repelled subsequent Pakistani aggression and pounded its airbases.
Jainshankar said with Pakistan keen on ending military action, India had made it clear that such a request should come from that country's DGMO.
"On the 10th of May, we received phone calls sharing the impression of other countries that Pakistan was ready to cease the fighting. Our position was, if Pakistan was ready, we needed to get this as a request from the Pakistani side through the DGMO channel. That is exactly how that request came. Now, I want to make two things very clear. One, at no stage in any conversation with the United States was there any linkage with trade and what was going on. Secondly, there was no call between the Prime Minister and President Trump from the 22nd of April when President Trump called up to convey his sympathy, and the 17th of June when he called up Prime Minister in Canada to explain why he could not meet," he said.
Jaishankar said that from April 25 till the commencement of Operation Sindoor, there were a number of phone calls and conversations.
"At my level, there were 27 calls; at PM Modi's level, almost 20 calls. About 35-40 letters of support came in, and what we tried to do was to create a narrative, prepare the diplomacy for the launch of Operation Sindoor... There are 193 nations in the United Nations, only 3 countries apart from Pakistan opposed Operation Sindoor," he said.
The Lok Sabha began on Monday afternoon discussion on 'India's strong, successful and decisive Operation Sindoor in response to terrorist attack in Pahalgam'. The debate was initiated by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.