India’s mantra for dealing with Trumpian fables

United States President Donald Trump’s insistence that he brought about the ceasefire between India and Pakistan and that trade was a lever used has been carefully denied by the external affairs spokesperson who said cessation of hostilities came about after Pakistan’s director general of military operations called his Indian counterpart and at no stage did trade figure in discussions between India and US.

The ministry of external affairs statement came a couple of days after Trump’s May 10 remarks claiming to have worked out the ceasefire after a long night. In retrospect, a briefing, even off record, may have presented the Indian viewpoint backed with the timeline of calls, evidence of India’s military actions on May 10 and the fact that the call to the Indian Army DGMO did originate from Pakistan.

A dispassionate examination of events shows that US did speak to both sides and conveyed Pakistan’s desire to stop hostilities. Islamabad accepted with alacrity India’s point that the Pakistan DGMO must take the first step. While US did intervene more urgently than was the case immediately after May 7, a ceasefire came about due to Pakistan’s desire to call time. In Trump’s telling, it all happened because of him telling both sides “lets do trade.” It is doubtful if even Pakistan will agree.

Claims that the US acted due to Pakistan threatening to go nuclear are not easy to verify but the rising tempo of India’s military actions meant it was not going to be deterred by such blackmail.

Trump’s press secretary Karoline Leavitt posted on X about a conversation with a Kashmiri waiter in Doha who said the US president was not getting enough “credit” for the ceasefire and that he is relieved about being able to visit home soon. “He said President Trump is not receiving enough credit for literally preventing a nuclear war – and he is right!” she wrote.

All this will greatly please Trump who does not have a low opinion of himself. The Indian response to such claims seems to be to not react to specific comments but state New Delhi’s position as and when required. It is a difficult call as Trump’s comments are sometimes so broad sweep that there is no room for nuances that can matter in diplomacy, a word somewhat alien to his makeup.

India will, however, choose to remain closely engaged with the US administration as Trump’s comments and even his offer to mediate are not going to fly. There are simply no takers in India and though Pakistan may be agreeable to talks – it would be a definite brownie point – the internal turmoil in the country reduces any scope for serious international diplomacy, leave alone a matter like Jammu and Kashmir.

While Trump’s comments made front pages, there were other more welcome developments like the decision to reverse the Biden administration restrictions on exports of Artificial Intelligence chips and GPUs (Graphics Producing Units) that is expected to benefit Indian cloud and data processing firms. At the same time, there was disquiet over the move to equip Turkiye with Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missiles (ASRAAMs) in view of its assistance to Pakistan during the May 7-10 conflict.

It will be a missed bag, point out Indian commentators familiar with the Modi government’s engagement with the US, adding that New Delhi will focus on the gains it anticipates in defence and cutting edge technologies in view of agreements reached between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Trump. If that means preferring silence or a delayed reaction, then that is not a bad option.

On the other hand, at the political level, Modi has made it abundantly clear that India will accept no “conditionalities” when it comes to responding to security threats and Pakistan can expect worse if it does not heed warnings.

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