Pressure tactics: “No mediator in India-Pak issues,” asserts Delhi after Trump-Munir-Sharif meet
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: After US President Donald Trump’s much-publicised meeting with Pakistan Army chief General Asim Munir, and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, India on Friday reiterated its long-standing position that there will be no third-party mediation in the bilateral India-Pakistan matters.
Reacting to their Oval Office meeting in the White House, India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said it had “taken note” of the meeting, the media reported.
“India’s consistent position has been clear and well known- there is no role for any third party in matters concerning India and Pakistan. All outstanding issues are to be resolved bilaterally,” it said.
The meeting came after Trump told the United Nations this week that he had “ended a war between India and Pakistan,” counting it among seven conflicts he claimed to have resolved since re-taking office in January.
India, however, firmly rejected this claim, asserting that its decision to end Operation Sindoor— a limited military action launched against Pakistan in May 2025 to wipe out terror facilities– was taken independently after Islamabad’s request, and not under any US pressure.
During his White House engagement, Sharif invited American companies to invest in Pakistan, highlighting agriculture, technology, mining and energy as priority sectors. His office said talks, which also touched on efforts to end the war in Gaza, reflected a “further warming” of US-Pakistan relations after years of strain.
On his part, Trump praised both Sharif and Munir. “He is a very great guy, and so is the Prime Minister.”
Their meeting marked the first time a Pakistani civilian leader was hosted at the White House since Trump’s last meeting with then-Prime Minister Imran Khan in 2019. However, Munir had already met Trump in June at the White House– without Sharif.
A readout of what Sharif and Munir discussed with Trump said:
“The Prime Minister lauded President Trump’s bold, courageous and decisive leadership for facilitating the Pakistan-India ceasefire and praised his initiative to invite key Muslim world leaders in efforts to bring an immediate end to the conflict in Gaza and restore peace in the Middle East.”
“The leaders discussed enhancing the bilateral partnership, with the Prime Minister inviting US investment in Pakistan’s key sectors and stressing the need to further enhance security and intelligence cooperation. The Prime Minister also extended a warm and cordial invitation to President Trump to undertake an official visit to Pakistan, at his convenience,” the Pakistani statement said.
India has repeatedly denied Trump’s claims that he had a hand in brokering the ceasefire after its airstrikes on terror and military infrastructure in Pakistan, following the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam that killed 26 Hindu-only tourists on April 22.
Trump has, however, been speaking in the same voice as Pakistan’s leaders with the claim that he was one of the reasons why the two nuclear-armed neighbours agreed to a ceasefire and stopped tension from escalating.
