Roving Periscope: Hawking peace, even China claims role in Op. Sindoor ‘ceasefire’
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: If this trend continues, even Pakistan-based terrorist groups may compete with each other to claim they negotiated with New Delhi for a ‘ceasefire’ with Islamabad during the Operation Sindoor in May 2025!
After America, which stayed flummoxed, even China, which covertly assisted Pakistan during India’s highly successful military operation after the April 22 Hindu-only massacre at Pahalgam, has claimed it played a role in the ‘ceasefire’ between the two distant neighbours.
India on Wednesday promptly rejected China’s fresh claim.
China didn’t stop at South Asia; it even claimed a role in the Gaza ceasefire!
The fact is, both America and China, which spectacularly failed to stop the Operation Sindoor, are covering up their shame by denying New Delhi its hour of glory. Several countries, watching India’s success, have approached New Delhi to acquire its indigenously manufactured war material, which embarrassed both Washington and Beijing.
After US President Donald Trump’s relentless claims—over 40 times since May 10—about a ‘ceasefire, China has also joined the bandwagon, saying it played a role in settling the “hotspot issue.”
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday claimed at the Symposium on the International Situation and China’s Foreign Relations that Beijing had helped mediate several global conflicts, including the India-Pakistan standoff, the media reported on Wednesday.
He didn’t say why China stopped war in Galwan Valley of Eastern Ladakh against India in May 2020?
“To build peace that lasts, we have taken an objective and just stance, and focused on addressing both symptoms and root causes. Following this Chinese approach to settling hotspot issues, we mediated in northern Myanmar, the Iranian nuclear issue, the tensions between Pakistan and India, the issues between Palestine and Israel, and the recent conflict between Cambodia and Thailand,” he said.
India and Pakistan engaged in a four-day military escalation (May 7-10, 2025) after New Delhi launched Operation Sindoor, targeting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). The Indian strikes were carried out in response to the April 22 terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, in which 26 Hindu-only tourists were killed.
Trump’s claims
India’s relentless military operation inside Pakistan, for the first time in decades, panicked Pakistan Army whose Director-General of Military Operations (DGMO) requested his Indian counterpart on May 10 to stop gunfire. It was only after this request that India suspended the operation, clearly warning Pakistan that it will resume the operation after the next terror attack.
US President Donald Trump, chasing a Nobel Peace Prize, used this suspension of Operation Sindoor to claim that he negotiated the ‘ceasefire’. He has since May 10 repeated this claim over 40 times on all world platforms, despite India consistently denying any third-party mediation in the matter. Not just the India-Pakistan standoff, the US President even claimed seven more ‘ceasefires.’
Not to be left behind, even Pakistan Army chief, General Asim Munir, claimed ‘victory,’ without evidence, and crowned himself as a “Field Marshal.” Sailing in the same boat, he even became Trump’s blue-eyed boy, gave his family business benefits in Pakistan, and promptly nominated the US President for a Nobel Peace Prize.
Interestingly, even Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari and Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar have admitted recently how India’s relentless military action panicked Islamabad.
But these exposures don’t bother Trump. To reinforce his own unfounded claims, he just decorated an Indian-origin supporter, no less, for his alleged role in “peace negotiations.”
A little-known American of Indian-origin, Ranjit ‘Ricky’ Singh Gill, has just been decorated with a Distinguished Action Award by the US National Security Council (NSC) for his role in “negotiating” a ceasefire between India and Pakistan. The award was conferred this week by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
New Jersey-born Gill, 37, serves as senior director for South and Central Asia at the NSC and is a special assistant to the US President.
