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India on Monday firmly reiterated that any issues relating to Jammu and Kashmir must be addressed bilaterally with Pakistan and noted that the outstanding issue is the vacation of Pakistan Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
Addressing a media briefing, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that India's policy that issues pertaining to Jammu and Kashmir have to be addressed bilaterally with Pakistan has not changed. "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," Jaiswal said. Answering a query, he said there were conversations between Indian and US leaders on the evolving military situation from the time Operation Sindoor commenced but trade did not come up in any of these discussions. "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," he 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. US President Donald Trump said on Monday that his administration played a crucial role in brokering an immediate cessation of hostilities between India and Pakistan, following escalating tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. "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," he 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 killed. The government had said that the perpetrators will face severe punishment and over 100 terrorists were killed in Operation Sindoor. Indian Armed Forces effectively repelled Pakistan's subsequent military aggression and pounded several airbases in Pakistan. The two countries have now reached an understanding to stop firing and military action after Pakistan DGMO reached out to his Indian counterpart. (ANI)
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