Vinay Kumar has told RT that India’s anti-terrorist response, not US mediation, led to Islamabad ceasing hostilities
India’s zero tolerance for terrorism and ability to react to Pakistani moves is what led to a ceasefire between the South Asian neighbors after four days of intense fighting, Indian Ambassador to Russia Vinay Kumar has told RT in an exclusive interview.
“We responded to the terror attack and Pakistan, instead of understanding the gravity of the situation, decided to escalate,” Kumar said, adding that India countered “every” attempt at escalation from its neighbor.
“Finally on the 10th [of May] they realized that they were moving on the wrong path and their Director General of Military Operations called and offered a ceasefire, which we agreed to,” the Indian diplomat said. An April terrorist attack in the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, which India blamed on Pakistan, preceded the escalation and was widely condemned by the international community.
Even before New Delhi and Islamabad announced the ceasefire, US President Donald Trump said that Washington had helped mediate ceasefire. On Monday, he reiterated those claims in a press briefing where he said his administration was instrumental in brokering the truce, and that he was confident it would last.
However, Kumar appeared to contradict Trump’s assertions, stating that hostilities were resolved directly by the parties. “You know that ceasefire… was bilaterally arrived at between the two DGMOs (Director General of Military Operations) after they talked to each other,” the ambassador said. “So, we don’t want any third-party mediation,” he added.
He also reiterated Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s position that as far as New Delhi is concerned, the new normal is that every terrorist act will be given a fitting response on India’s own terms, with no tolerance for nuclear blackmail and no acceptance of any differentiation between the government sponsoring terrorism and the terrorists themselves.
