‘Trump being Trump’: Ex-US NSA on president claiming credit for India-Pakistan ceasefire
Former US NSA John Bolton said that it is typical of Donald Trump to jump in before anyone else can take credit for such matters.
Former US National Security Advisor John Bolton reacted to President Donald Trump claiming credit for the ceasefire understanding between India and Pakistan, terming it as just "Trump being Trump".
He said that Trump's move to claim the brokerage of the truce deal "was nothing personal to India". In fact, “this is Donald Trump, who takes credit for everything,” Bolton told news agency ANI.
The former NSA asserted that the US President might indeed have had a call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, vice president JD Vance and State Secretary Marco Rubio. "I am sure other countries might also be calling to see what they can do. It is typical of Trump because he would jump in before everyone could take credit," he added.
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The US President's tendency to swoop in like this may well be irritating, and that too, for many people, he said. "But it's nothing against India," he reiterated, adding that "It's just Trump being Trump".
Operation Sindoor
On May 10, India and Pakistan reached a ceasefire understanding to stop all military action against each other on land, air, and sea. The cessation followed four days of intense cross-border fighting between the two nuclear-armed neighbours after New Delhi's 'Operation Sindoor'.
The Indian armed forces on May 7 carried out targeted strikes on nine terror infrastructure sites linked to outfits such as Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed and Hizbul Mujahideen in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). The central government said that Operation Sindoor was executed in response to the April 22 terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam that killed 26 people, mostly civilians.
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Pakistan attempted to launch a military retaliation attack following the operation, using drones, unarmed aerial vehicles, and heavy artillery firing on J&K and the border regions.
As the situation escalated between the two nations, the neighbouring countries expressed deep concern of the consequences a potential war between the two might have.
Amid all the tension, suddenly, a ceasefire announcement came. But this was not from the Indian or Pakistani government. It was made by the US President.
Trump's claims on Indo-Pak ceasefire
"After a long night of talks mediated by the United States, I am pleased to announce that India and Pakistan have agreed to a FULL AND IMMEDIATE CEASEFIRE. Congratulations to both Countries on using Common Sense and Great Intelligence. Thank you for your attention to this matter!" Trump posted on his Truth Social network.
Trump claimed credit for having played a successful role as a mediator and said that the US leveraged 'trade' to get India and Pakistan to stop the military actions. He also offered to mediate the issue of Jammu and Kashmir.
However, the US President's claims were rejected by India. New Delhi made it clear that any matter related to the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir will be addressed bilaterally by itself and Islamabad.
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"As you are aware, 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. As you are aware, the outstanding matter is the vacation of illegally occupied Indian Territory by Pakistan," the Ministry of External Affairs stated.
The S Jaishankar-led ministry also clarified that the mention of "trade" did not come up in the communications between Indian and American leaders since Operation Sindoor and the ceasefire.
"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 U.S. leaders on the evolving military situation. The issue of trade did not come up in any of these discussions," MEA added.
