External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar gave a direct reply in a Rajya Sabha debate on Wednesday regarding "Operation Sindoor," dispelling rumor regarding diplomatic communication between India and America.
He squarely rejected reports of any phone conversations between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former American President Donald Trump between April 22 and June 16.
Setting the record straight in the Upper House, Jaishankar declared, “.Main unko kehna chahta hoon, woh kaan kholke sun le. 22 April se 16 June tak, ek bhi phone call President Trump aur Prime Minister Modi ke beech mein nahi hua.”
(I want to state it clearly absolutely—those who are disseminating disinformation need to listen carefully—there wasn't a single phone call between President Trump and Prime Minister Modi during that time.)
The Minister also touched on wider issues expressed in the debate, particularly over India's approach to dealing with Pakistan. Underlining India's abiding stance, he again made it clear that New Delhi is vehemently against any third-party intervention in issues related to Islamabad. All talks, he underlined, must be under a bilateral template and only commenced via official channels like the Director Generals of Military Operations (DGMO).
"When we started Operation Sindoor, some countries approached us to know about the situation," Jaishankar said. "We gave a clear message—we were not willing to have any outside mediation. Anything between India and Pakistan would be resolved bilaterally. We were reacting to an attack, and that reaction would continue unless Pakistan asked for a halt in hostilities through the proper military channel."
Jaishankar also took the opportunity to question the Congress party's past choices, especially in the context of water-sharing and Kashmir. Chastising the opposition for being "uncomfortable with history," he faulted previous leadership for what he termed as one-sided deals—most famously the Indus Water Treaty.
Referring to it as "a one-of-a-kind and possibly historic agreement," Jaishankar noted the unequal nature of permitting rivers to run into a next-door nation without keeping the rights of usage. He characterized the treaty as an act of outstanding magnanimity, rare in international treaties.
Few treaties in the world are as one-sidedly generous as the Indus Water Treaty. When people these days debate its present status, we must also think about the way it was thought out," he said, referring to then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's management of the agreement in 1960.
Ascertaining that Nehru made the remarks during a parliament session on 30 November 1960, Jaishankar added: "He [Nehru] was saying that he was doing it for Pakistani Punjab—there was not a word mentioned about Indian farmers in Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, or Gujarat."
The Minister wound up by pointing out that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has moved to correct what he called "historical errors," but specifically what he meant was the abolition of Article 370 and a reexamination of the Indus Water Treaty.
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