India on Tuesday refuted US President Donald Trump's claim that he forced India and Pakistan to stop the military action against each other by threatening not to do trade with them if they continued to escalate the situation.
In a press conference on Tuesday, MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal reacted to Donald Trump's claim and said that the issue of trade did not come up in discussions with the US regarding Operation Sindoor.
"From the time Operation Sindoor commenced on 7th May 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.s," the MEA spokesperson said.
Notably, while briefing the media at the White House on Monday, the US President, speaking about the ceasefire between India and Pakistan, said, "I said come on, we're gonna do a lot of trade with you guys, let's stop it. If you stop it, we'll do trade. If you don't stop it, we're not going to do any trade. Nobody has used trade like I do."
Maintaining India's long-standing stand on Jammu-Kashmir issue, he said, "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."
