Pakistan’s foreign minister Ishaq Dar has openly conceded that New Delhi has flatly and unequivocally shut the doors on any notion of third-party mediation between the two nations in the aftermath of Operation Sindoor.
Pakistan’s foreign minister Ishaq Dar has openly conceded that New Delhi has flatly and unequivocally shut the doors on any notion of third-party mediation between the two nations in the aftermath of Operation Sindoor. “… India has categorically been stating it’s bilateral. So we don’t mind bilateral. When we met on 25th of July … a bilateral meeting between me and secretary Rubio in Washington, I asked him what happened to the dialogue [between India and Pakistan]. He said that India says that it is a bilateral issue,” Dar told Al Jazeera.
Despite India’s firm stance, Dar attempted to project a softer tone, adding: “If any country wants dialogue, we are happy, we are welcome, we are a peace loving country. We believe that dialogue is the way forward.”
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India’s position, however, remains steadfast and uncompromising. Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a phone conversation with US President Donald Trump, had drawn a red line against any intervention.
“PM Modi emphasised that India has never accepted mediation, does not accept it, and will never accept it,” then foreign secretary Vikram Misri asserted, recounting the details of the 35-minute-long call in June.
This diplomatic exchange comes against the backdrop of Operation Sindoor, launched by India on May 7 as a fierce retaliatory strike against terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The offensive was in direct response to the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22, which left 26 people dead. The four-day skirmish that ensued ended only on May 10, when Pakistan’s Director General of Military Operations reached out seeking a ceasefire.