Jaishankar says no trade talks with US after Pahalgam attack

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday said in the Lok Sabha that the issue of trade did not come up at any stage during India’s conversation with the US on the Pahalgam attack.

No call between Trump, Modi

Addressing the Lower House during the discussion on Operation Sindoor, Jaishankar also Jaishankar denied Trump's claims, saying there was no direct conversation between Trump and Modi all through the Pahalgam attack and Operation Sindoor.

“US Vice President JD Vance called the Prime Minister and warned of a massive attack from Pakistan, to which PM Modi responded, saying such an attack will be met with equal force,” added Jaishankar. He said that the response to Pakistan thereafter, on May 8 and 9, was in accordance with Modi's response and that Modi had made it clear that any ceasefire negotiations would only happen if the Pakistani side calls directly with an offer.

As the Opposition protested, Union Home Minister Amit Shah stood up to say that the Opposition was not willing to trust India's Foreign Minister but the people of foreign countries.

Also Read: Rajnath Singh on Operation Sindoor: No loss to the Indian military

‘Non-escalatory response’

Jaishankar asserted that India received considerable support from the international community regarding Operation Sindoor. He said that between the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sondoor, he received 27 calls from various global leaders, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi personally received over 20 calls expressing solidarity with India. “Overwhelmingly, there was recognition that India was doing what was right", said Jaishankar.

The External Affairs Minister underscored that India's response was “non-escalatory” and only the terror infrastructure was targeted. He asked the House, "Which one of you had ever imagined that India would hit Bahawalpur or Muridke? People had given up hope after 26/11".

Jaishankar asserted there was overwhelming support for India globally, including from members of Quad, BRICS, Central Asian countries, who all upheld India's right to respond, condemned cross-border terrorism, and opposed giving safe haven to terrorists. Similar support and solidarity were extended by Russian President Vladimir Putin, said Jaishankar.

He also said that the extradition of Tahawwimur Rana from the US to India was a result of the current regime's diplomacy, which resonated with the US and the rest of the world.

Slams Congress

The External Affairs Minister said that those questioning the government on its response to the Pahalgam terror attacks are people who did nothing after the 26/11 attack, saying their only reaction then was "no action.”

He said that the Congress was talking about the hyphenation of India and Pakistan, though it was the UPA government that hyphenated the two countries through the Sharm al Sheikh statement, which said both countries were victims of terror and also included a reference to Balochistan.

Also Read: Opposition’s volte-face on Operation Sindoor debate stuns govt, Lok Sabha Speaker

Swipe at Sonia, Rahul

Jaishankar dismissed criticism over India's inability to adequately protest or stall the IMF bailout to Pakistan in the midst of Operation Sindoor, saying similar and bigger bailouts were given to Pakistan during previous Congress governments, and the Congress never objected.

He slammed Congress for raising alarm over China's growing influence. "I did not go to China for Olympics or secret agreements, I went for negotiations," Jaishankar said in a quip at Sonia Gandhi's presence at the Beijing Olympics and the BJP's repeated claims of Rahul Gandhi entering into a MoU with China on behalf of the Congress during the UPA era.

"We heard warnings about China today. When the Doklam crisis was on the LoP of today, he decided to take a briefing not from us but from the Chinese Ambassador,” he said in another jibe at Rahul.