'Why US V-P met only us, not them?': Milind Deora calls out Donald Trump on India-Pakistan hyphenation
Deora said that he does not know why Trump is putting India and Pakistan on the same level.
- Jul 9, 2025,
- Updated Jul 9, 2025 9:03 AM IST
Shiv Sena MP Milind Deora questioned the constant hyphenation of India and Pakistan done by US President Donald Trump. Deora, who was also a part of one of the Indian delegations sent for global outreach on Operation Sindoor, said that he does not know why Trump is putting India and Pakistan on the same level.
He even went ahead and asked that if indeed India and Pakistan are at the same level, as Trump seems to suggest, then why did US Vice President JD Vance meet the Indians and not the Pakistani delegation?
"Why is he doing that? I don't know. Why did the US Vice President meet only us and not the Pakistani delegation? Why don't you read that? Why don't you ask that question? Is that not a signal?" Deora said in an interview with Al Jazeera.
He further said that the focus is always on institutions over individuals and that the India-US relationship transcends individual dealings and political parties.
"I don't believe that somebody having a tactical relationship with somebody means there's a strategic difference. We have respect for the American people, we have respect for the American presidency, and that relationship is very, very strong. That relationship transcends political parties on either side of the ocean," he added.
Deora's comments came after Trump doubled down — again — on the India-Pakistan truce claim. Speaking to the reporters at a White House event, Trump repeated his claim that he brokered a truce between India and Pakistan during the worst military conflict between the two countries since the 1999 Kargil War.
“We stopped a lot of fights, I think a very big one, frankly. A very, very big one was India and Pakistan, and we stopped that over trade,” Trump said. He also said that he used trade as a way to bring peace between the two nuclear-armed countries.
"We said that we are not going to be dealing with you at all if you are gonna fight. They were maybe at a nuclear stage...Stopping that was really important." Meanwhile, India has repeatedly denied claims of any role or mediation by the US government or Trump in particular.
Shiv Sena MP Milind Deora questioned the constant hyphenation of India and Pakistan done by US President Donald Trump. Deora, who was also a part of one of the Indian delegations sent for global outreach on Operation Sindoor, said that he does not know why Trump is putting India and Pakistan on the same level.
He even went ahead and asked that if indeed India and Pakistan are at the same level, as Trump seems to suggest, then why did US Vice President JD Vance meet the Indians and not the Pakistani delegation?
"Why is he doing that? I don't know. Why did the US Vice President meet only us and not the Pakistani delegation? Why don't you read that? Why don't you ask that question? Is that not a signal?" Deora said in an interview with Al Jazeera.
He further said that the focus is always on institutions over individuals and that the India-US relationship transcends individual dealings and political parties.
"I don't believe that somebody having a tactical relationship with somebody means there's a strategic difference. We have respect for the American people, we have respect for the American presidency, and that relationship is very, very strong. That relationship transcends political parties on either side of the ocean," he added.
Deora's comments came after Trump doubled down — again — on the India-Pakistan truce claim. Speaking to the reporters at a White House event, Trump repeated his claim that he brokered a truce between India and Pakistan during the worst military conflict between the two countries since the 1999 Kargil War.
“We stopped a lot of fights, I think a very big one, frankly. A very, very big one was India and Pakistan, and we stopped that over trade,” Trump said. He also said that he used trade as a way to bring peace between the two nuclear-armed countries.
"We said that we are not going to be dealing with you at all if you are gonna fight. They were maybe at a nuclear stage...Stopping that was really important." Meanwhile, India has repeatedly denied claims of any role or mediation by the US government or Trump in particular.