The US has once again claimed that it “got involved directly” to bring about a ceasefire between India and Pakistan, the statement coming at a time when trade tariffs have pushed the New Delhi-Washington ties to a new low, with the two sides refraining from even holding discussions on scheduling the strategic 2+2 dialogue.
Initiated in 2018, the 2+2 dialogue is an annual feature in which the External Affairs Minister and the Defence Minister meet their US counterparts to discuss ways to deepen defence and strategic cooperation.
Sources said no discussion had yet taken place on deciding the dates for the 2+2 dialogue or Defence Minister Rajnath Singh individually visiting the US. India and the US had, in the previous editions of the dialogue, agreed on a new 10-year defence framework. India is a major buyer of US military goods, the equipment totalling around $20 billion over the past two decades. The sources said the Quad leaders’ summit, which India is to host and US President Donald Trump is expected to attend, was too far away to comment. The Quad is four-country grouping comprising India, the US, Japan and Australia.
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Marco Rubio claimed in an interview to a media house that the US “got involved directly” when India and Pakistan “went to war”, and President Donald Trump was able to deliver peace between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.
Since May 10 when India and Pakistan announced cessation of hostilities, Trump has repeated his claim many times that he “helped settle” the tensions and told the nuclear-armed neighbours that “America will do a lot of trade” with them if they stopped the conflict.
India has been consistently maintaining that the understanding on cessation of hostilities with Pakistan was reached following direct talks between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of the two militaries.