US President Donald Trump’s claims that he mediated the ceasefire between India and Pakistan during Operation Sindoor have been rejected by former Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan, who said the understanding was reached directly between the two countries’ Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs).
Speaking at an event hosted by the Vivekananda International Foundation in New Delhi on Tuesday, Chauhan said he could speak only about the military dimension of the ceasefire but was clear that no third party was involved in the decision.
“I told you that they picked up the phone at about 9:30 and spoke. We chose our own time. The DGMO said he is not available till about 3 o’clock, and then at 3 o’clock he said and that we decided at 5 o’clock,” Chauhan said.
“So the ceasefire is decided between two DGMOs. And that’s it. Means I don’t see the role of anyone else,” he added.
Chauhan also questioned how information about the ceasefire reached the US before India could publicly announce the understanding.
“How did this particular information get leaked out to the Americans that they tweeted before we could announce this? Again, I’m really not sure, but it didn’t leak out from us,” he said.
He added that the two sides had maintained secrecy about their DGMO-level conversation and said he believed the information may have been leaked from the Pakistani side.
What Trump has claimed
Trump has repeatedly taken credit for the May 10, 2025 ceasefire that brought an end to four days of military hostilities between India and Pakistan following Operation Sindoor.
On May 10, Trump announced on social media that India and Pakistan had agreed to a “full and immediate ceasefire” after what he described as a “long night of talks mediated by the United States”.
The US President has since repeatedly linked the cessation of hostilities to American diplomatic and economic pressure. In his latest version of the claim, Trump said on July 31 that India and Pakistan had been “very angry” and that the US threat of high tariffs helped bring about an end to the fighting.
Trump has also claimed that the conflict involved 11 aircraft being shot down and that he threatened both countries with tariffs if they continued fighting. India has disputed his claims about the aircraft losses and has consistently rejected the suggestion that Washington mediated the ceasefire.
In May 2025, US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick had also claimed that Trump offered India and Pakistan trading access to avert a wider war. India rejected that account, saying trade and tariffs did not figure in discussions between Indian and US officials during the conflict.
India has repeatedly made it clear that the understanding to stop military action was reached directly between the two DGMOs. The Ministry of External Affairs had said the specific date, time and wording of the cessation were worked out during the DGMO-level contact on May 10.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also rejected Trump’s mediation claim in Parliament in July 2025, saying no world leader had asked India to stop its military action.
Pakistan, meanwhile, has acknowledged Trump’s role. Its foreign ministry said in May 2025 that it appreciated the “constructive role” played by the US alongside other countries in supporting the ceasefire understanding.
Operation Sindoor
India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, 2025, in response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir that killed 26 people. Indian forces struck terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
The military confrontation escalated over the following days, with both sides carrying out strikes and counter-strikes. On May 10, Pakistan’s DGMO reached out to his Indian counterpart, after which the two sides arrived at an understanding to halt military action.