Foreign minister S Jaishankar took a sharp swipe at the US government on Saturday over its bid to improve ties with Pakistan. The Indian lawmaker said that Washington had a tendency for forget its “history” with Pakistan — reminding that terrorist Osama Bin Laden was found in the military town of Abbottabad in 2011. He also issued a fresh clarification on the continued claims made by Donald Trump about ‘stopping’ nuclear war during Operation Sindoor.
“They have a history with each other. And they have a history of overlooking that history. It’s not the first time we have seen things. And the interesting thing is that when you look sometimes at the certificates that say somebody in the military will give, it’s the same military which went into Abbottabad and found you know who there. So the issue, in a way, is when countries are very focused on doing the politics of convenience. They keep trying to do this. Some of it can be tactical, some of it can have other benefits or calculations,” Jaishankar said during the ET World Leaders Forum on Saturday.
Growing US-Pakistan ties
Ties between the US and Pakistan have improved significantly in recent months — with Trump hosting Field Marshall Asim Munir for a White House luncheon, announcing a “massive deal” to develop oil reserves and more. The renewed US-Pakistan bilateral engagement has also been marked with multiple diplomatic visits and joint operations such as capturing an ISIS-Khorasan key figure in early 2025. The Trump administration has also made repeated efforts to acknowledge Pakistani support for counterterrorism and regional stability efforts. An US-Pakistan Counterterrorism Dialogue was also held in Islamabad earlier this month to “reaffirm shared commitment to combating terrorism”.
The US has also claimed a key role in mediating the India-Pakistan clash earlier this year — with Donald Trump insisting dozens of times that he had singlehandedly averted ‘nuclear war’ in south Asia. The POTUS has continued to make the claim despite multiple clarifications from New Delhi. Pakistan Prime Minister Sharif has said that Trump played a “pivotal and paramount role” alongside representatives of other countries without confirming his oft-repeated assertion.
“It is a fact that phone calls were made at the time. Calls were made by the US and other countries as well. This is not a secret. When something like this happens, countries do call up…because it is an interdependent world and those who have a stronger history of international relations will do that. But that is one thing. It is something quite different to assert mediation or to assert that an outcome which was negotiated between India and Pakistan was not negotiated between India and Pakistan. It was,” Jaishankar reiterated on Saturday.
”Don’t buy from us if you…’: Jaishankar shares message for US
The External Affairs Minister also insisted that New Delhi would defend its economic and strategic interests despite heightened trade tensions with the United States.
“If you have a problem with India buying oil or refined products from Russia, don’t buy from us. Nobody forces you. Europe buys, America buys, so if you don’t like it, don’t buy it,” he said bluntly.