New Delhi [India], May 22 (ANI): Congress leader Pawan Khera on Thursday questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'silence' over US President Donald Trump's repeated claims of brokering the understanding of hostilities between India and Pakistan.

Referring to Donald Trump's recent claim for credit during a meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa at the White House, Khera said that this is 8th time Trump claimed that he got Operation Sindoor stopped, and questioned PM Modi for not rejecting these repeated claims.

'This is the 8th time President Trump has made this claim that he got Operation Sindoor stopped. He claims to have used trade to get India to end Operation Sindoor. Prime Minister Modi has not rejected this claim even once. What does this silence mean?' Pawan Khera wrote on X.

https://x.com/Pawankhera/status/1925383620195492228

Earlier, the US President again said that he facilitated the understanding through trade negotiations that de-escalate tensions between the two nations.

Trump highlighted his personal rapport with Prime Minister Narendra Modi while noting the challenges faced during the process.

'If you take a look at what we just did with Pakistan and India, we settled that whole thing, and I think I settled it through trade. We're doing a big deal with India. We're doing a big deal with Pakistan... You know somebody had to be the last one to shoot, but the shooting was getting worse and worse, bigger and bigger, deeper and deeper into the country. We spoke to them and...we got it settled, and then two days later something happened, and they said it was Trump's fault, but Pakistan has some excellent people and some really good leaders and India is my friend... Modi, he's a great guy,' Trump remarked during meeting with Cyril Ramaphosa.

The cessation of hostilities between the two nations came after India's 'Operation Sindoor', launched in retaliation for the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 civilians.

India has refuted the claims made by the US President, reiterating its policy that India and Pakistan bilaterally address any matter related to the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

'As you are aware, we have a long-standing national position that any issues pertaining to the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir have to be addressed by India and Pakistan bilaterally. That stated policy has not changed. As you are aware, the outstanding matter is the vacation of illegally occupied Indian Territory by Pakistan,' the Ministry of External Affairs stated.

The MEA further stated that the 'issue of trade' did not come up between Indian and US leaders since the commencement of 'Operation Sindoor' and the cessation of hostilities.

'From the time OPERATION SINDOOR commenced on 7th May till the understanding on cessation of firing and military action on 10th May, there were conversations between Indian and U.S. leaders on the evolving military situation. The issue of trade did not come up in any of these discussions,' MEA further stated. (ANI)