India, Pakistan reached understanding through dialogue ‘directly’ by militaries: EAM Jaishankar in Denmark

India and Pakistan decided to to halt military actions earlier this month after negotiations ‘directly’ by the militaries of the two sides without the involvement of any other country, Union External Affairs minister S Jaishankar said on 23 May.

The ‘understanding’ after four days of conflict begining 7 May was trigerred after Indian military strikes that “hit [Pakistan] very hard” on the morning of May 10, Jaishankar told Danish broadcaster TV 2 during an interview while responding to a question on the role played by US President Donald Trump in mediating between the two countries.

The cessation of hostilities between the two nations came on 10 May after India's 'Operation Sindoor', launched in retaliation for the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 civilians, mostly tourists.

Trump has been taking credit

President Trump has taken credit for the two countries arriving at an understanding to stop military action after four days of hostilities. On Wednesday, President Trump reiterated he facilitated the understanding through trade negotiations that de-escalate tensions between the two nations.

India has repeatedly insisted that understanding was reached during talks between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of the two countries.

“We had the conflict for a few days [and] we resolved that conflict for the moment in its particular military form through an understanding for the cessation of fighting and military action. And this was something that we negotiated directly between the militaries of the two countries,” Jaishankar said in the interiview.

Jaishankar is on a six-day visit of the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany beginning 19 May. This is Jaishankar's first foreign visit after the four-day-long military confrontation between Indian and Pakistani armed forces in the aftermath of 22 April Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people, mostly tourists.

“The trigger for it was that after we had fighting for a few days, we hit them very hard on the morning of [May] 10...and that caused the Pakistanis to say, ‘Ok, we’re prepared to stop the firing and reach an understanding about how to deal with it.’” the EAM said in the interview, as reported in Hindustan Times.