New Delhi: Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri has told the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs that the ceasefire reached with Pakistan after Operation Sindoor was a bilateral decision, with no involvement from the United States. Misri’s closed-door briefing, reported by committee sources, directly rejected former US President Donald Trump’s public assertions that Washington had brokered the truce.
Committee members pressed Misri on why New Delhi had not publicly countered Trump’s claims, particularly his repeated references to Kashmir. Misri reiterated that the decision to halt military action was taken only after direct talks between India and Pakistan, and said “no third-party mediation” occurred.
During the briefing Misri revealed that preliminary investigations into the Pahalgam terror attack show the assailants exchanged information with contacts in Pakistan both before and after the assault. Several UN-designated terrorists, he added, continue to operate openly from Pakistani territory, fomenting violence against India.
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Misri stressed that the confrontation with Pakistan remained within the bounds of conventional warfare and that Indian intelligence detected no nuclear-related signals from Islamabad during the crisis. Opposition MPs voiced concern about Pakistan’s use of Chinese-origin military hardware; Misri responded that Indian strikes had “seriously damaged” enemy air bases, but declined to disclose the number of Indian aircraft lost, citing national-security restrictions.
The committee meeting, chaired by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, was attended by TMC’s Abhishek Banerjee, Congress MPs Rajeev Shukla and Deepender Hooda, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, and BJP MPs Aparajita Sarangi and Arun Govil. Misri also informed the panel that the government will send cross-party delegations to 33 world capitals to brief foreign leaders on India’s approach to counter-terrorism and regional security.
VIDEO | Congress MPs Shashi Tharoor, Rajeev Shukla, Deepender Hooda; AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi; BJP MPs Aparajita Sarangi, Arun Govil; and Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri arrive for meeting of Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs.
(Full video available on PTI… pic.twitter.com/UEoIPUEt4F
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) May 19, 2025