Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Dec 31: With China also claiming to have mediated between India and Pakistan to bring an end to the “Operation Sindoor,” the Congress on Wednesday urged the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to break his silence on the issue terming the Chinese claim of mediation to be “concerning.”
The Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the people of India need clarity on the issue and urged Mr Modi to throw light on the Chinese claim, which he said seemed to make a joke of the country’s national security.
“President Trump (US President Donald Trump) has long claimed that he personally intervened to halt Operation Sindoor on May 10, 2025. He has done so on 65 different occasions in various forums in at least seven different countries. The Prime Minister has never broken his silence on these claims made by his so-called good friend,” Mr Ramesh said in a post on X.
“Now the Chinese Foreign Minister makes a similar claim and says China also mediated. On July 4, 2025, the Deputy Chief of Army Staff Lt. Gen Rahul Singh had publicly stated that during Operation Sindoor, India was actually confronting and combating China,” Mr Ramesh said.
Contrary to India’s claims, the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday said tensions between India and Pakistan were among a list of hot issues mediated by China this year. New Delhi has been maintaining that the May 7-10 conflict between India and Pakistan was resolved through direct talks between the DGMOs (Director General of Military Operations) of the armies of the two countries. India has also been consistently maintaining that there was no place for any third-party intervention in matters relating to India and Pakistan.
“Given that China was decisively aligned with Pakistan, Chinese claims of having mediated between India and Pakistan are concerning — not just because they directly contradict what the people of our country have been led to believe, but because they seem to make a joke of our national security itself,” Mr Ramesh said. He said the claim must also be understood in the context of our relationship with China.
“We have begun re-engagement with them — but unfortunately it has been on Chinese terms. The Prime Minister’s clean chit to China on June 19, 2020, has considerably weakened India’s negotiating position,” he said. The Congress leader said our trade deficit is at a record high, and much of the country’s exports are dependent on imports from China.
“Provocative actions by China in relation to Arunachal Pradesh continue unabated,” he said. “Amidst such a lopsided – and hostile — relationship, the people of India need clarity on what role China played in the abrupt halt to Operation Sindoor,” Mr Ramesh questioned.
Soon afterwards, India issued a statement refuting China’s claims that it mediated between India and Pakistan during the military conflict in May this year. Media reports citing sources in the Indian government said India reiterated that there was no involvement of a third-party and it was Pakistan that requested ceasefire following Operation Sindoor. India’s rebuttal came after China echoed claims made by United States President Donald Trump regarding mediation between the two neighbouring Asian countries to resolve the military conflict.
Speaking on Tuesday at a Symposium on the International Situation and China’s Foreign Relations, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Beijing had played a mediating role in several global conflicts, including the India-Pakistan standoff, the Chinese Foreign Ministry shared a statement on X.
“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,” Wang said.
Wang’s remarks come months after India and Pakistan were locked in a brief but intense military confrontation in May, triggered by a terror attack in the Pahalgam valley of Jammu and Kashmir on April 22, which took 26 innocent lives. In May this year, India launched Operation Sindoor, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir to avenge the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.
Notably, New Delhi has time and again dismissed claims that there was a third party involved in brokering a truce with Pakistan, particularly in reference to the similar claims of the US president.