'We don't need to be persuaded because...': Shashi Tharoor's salvo at Donald Trump over repeated India-Pakistan ceasefire claims

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Monday aimed at US President Donald Trump over his repeated claims of having brokered the truce between India and Pakistan. Tharoor, who is leading an all-party delegation aimed at apprising the world about India's Operation Sindoor, said that no one needed to convince India to stop the conflict. 

He even said that if at all there was any persuasion from the American side, it would be for Pakistan because India needed no persuasion to stop. 

"No one needed to persuade us to stop. We had already said to stop. If there was any persuasion by the American president or his senior officials, it would have been persuasion of the Pakistanis. They would have had to be persuaded. We don't need to be persuaded because we don't want war," Tharoor said while winding up his Brazil visit. 

Furthermore, Tharoor stated that while India has immense respect for the US presidency and will speak bearing that in mind, it is also a truth that "our understanding is a bit different". 

He further explained that from the very day of Operation Sindoor (May 7), India has strongly said that it is not interested in prolonging the conflict with Pakistan. 

 "This is not the opening salvo in some sort of war. All it is retribution against the terrorists, period. If Pakistan had not reacted, we wouldn't have reacted," he added.

Donald Trump has repeatedly taken credit for the ceasefire understanding between New Delhi and Islamabad, claiming to have stopped a big nuclear crisis from happening. He has even said that he offered to increase trade with India and Pakistan in exchange for the stoppage of the conflict. 

India, however, has emphatically said that there was no third-party intervention in the cessation of conflict with Pakistan. New Delhi has also made it clear that the hostilities between the two countries had reached a halt after a phone conversation among the Director Generals of Military Operations (DGMOs).

After winding up the Brazil visit, the Tharoor-led delegation is now headed to Washington for a face-off with the Pakistani delegation led by Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari. 

The Indian delegation includes BJP's Bhubaneshwar Kalita, Shiv Sena's Milind Deora, and former Indian Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu. The delegation led by Bhutto-Zardari includes former ministers and diplomats, including Hina Rabbani Khar, Sherry Rahman, Khurram Dastgir Khan, Jalil Abbas Jilani, and Tehmina Janjua.