Pakistan’s top diplomat said that India had rejected any third-party role in mediating bilateral disputes during Operation Sindoor, contradicting US President Donald Trump’s claim that Washington brokered a ceasefire.
During an interview with Al Jazeera on Modany, Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar said Pakistan had “not sought” US mediation, adding that India had made its opposition to third-party involvement clear.
The remarks follow Trump’s repeated claims since May that US mediation averted a nuclear war. India has consistently dismissed this, asserting that the ceasefire resulted from direct talks between the Directors General of Military Operations of both nations.
Dar stated Pakistan sought a ceasefire after India's strikes, with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio informing him India doesn't support outside involvement.
"Incidentally, when the ceasefire offer came throughSecretary Rubio to me on the 10th of May... I was told that there would be a dialogue between Pakistan and India at an independent place... When we met on the 25th of July during a bilateral meeting with Secretary Rubio in Washington, I asked him 'What happened to those dialogues?', he said, 'India says that it is a bilateral issue," Dar said.
Notably, India's precision strikes targeted nine terrorist infrastructures in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, retaliating against the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people.
Dar emphasised Pakistan's willingness for comprehensive talks covering terrorism, trade, economy, and Jammu and Kashmir, stressing "it takes two to tango."
"We don't mind, but India has categorically been stating it's bilateral. We don't mind bilateral. However, the dialogues must be comprehensive, encompassing discussions on terrorism, trade, the economy, and Jammu and Kashmir. All these subjects which we have both been discussing," he said.
"We are not begging for anything. If any country wants dialogue, we are happy; we are welcome... We believe that dialogue is the way forward, but obviously it takes two to tango. So, unless India wishes to have dialogue, we can't force dialogue. We don't wish to force dialogue," Dar added.
The revelation from Dar comes amid India's maintaining that the issue is strictly bilateral, with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar dismissing Trump's claims as "bizarre, if not unfair."
