New Delhi [India], August 26 (ANI): Former Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan has said the India-Pakistan ceasefire during Operation Sindoor was decided directly between the two countries' Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs), rejecting claims of a third-party role in ending the hostilities.
Speaking at the Vivekananda Centre in the national capital on Tuesday on US President Donald Trump's claims that he mediated the ceasefire between India and Pakistan, Chauhan said, "See, I can only talk about this particular ceasefire, what happened in the military domain."
"I told you that they picked up the phone at about 9:30 and spoke. We chose our own time. The DGMO said he is not available till about 3 o'clock, and then at 3 o'clock he said and that we decided at 5 o'clock," he said.
"So the ceasefire is decided between two DGMOs. And that's it. Means I don't see the role of anyone else," Chauhan said.
Chauhan also questioned how the information about the ceasefire reached the United States before India could publicly announce it.
"How did this particular information get leaked out to the Americans that they tweeted at before we could announce this? Again, I'm really not sure, but it didn't leak out from us," he said.
He added, "So there has been some kind of an understanding between us at the DGMO level that this is any kind of conversation which had helped; we maintain due secrecy on this."
"So I think that it somehow got leaked out from the other side. That's what I feel," Chauhan said.
Earlier on July 31, Trump claimed that India and Pakistan were "very angry, and screamed and yelled" after the United States threatened high trade tariffs during Operation Sindoor last year, asserting that American diplomatic pressure brought an end to the hostilities.
New Delhi has repeatedly rejected any third-party intervention in the cessation of military action, maintaining that the understanding was reached through direct bilateral channels between India and Pakistan.
Addressing reporters at Camp David following a televised meeting with cabinet members, the US President reiterated his assertion of halting multiple global conflicts during his presidency. He mentioned that Russian President Vladimir Putin is seeking a deal to bring an end to the war in Ukraine before turning his attention to the South Asian region.
"We ended the India-Pakistan (war). 11 planes were shot down. That was raging. That was good. I used tariffs. I said, 'If you're going to go to war, 250 per cent tariff.' Each of them," Trump stated.
Detailing his version of events, Trump added, "And they (India and Pakistan) screamed and yelled and were very angry. They were both angry about it. A day later they called, and they said, 'We will not go to war'."
The US President also claimed that Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif credited him with saving 50 million lives by averting a wider conflict between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.
New Delhi has consistently disputed Trump's claims regarding the loss of 11 aircraft during the engagement while remaining steadfast in rejecting any external mediation.
India has reiterated that the ceasefire understanding during Operation Sindoor was reached only after Pakistan's Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) reached out to his Indian counterpart to request a halt in military action.
India had launched Operation Sindoor on May 7 last year as a decisive, targeted response to destroy terror infrastructure across Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoK). The anti-terror operation was carried out to dismantle terror bases that were utilised to plan the horrific April 22 terrorist attack in Pahalgam.
Following effective Indian strikes that dismantled key terror launchpads, the operation was paused on May 10 after a formal request from the Pakistani side. (ANI)
"Decided between two DGMOs": Former CDS Gen Anil Chauhan on Trump's claim on India-Pakistan ceasefire during Operation Sindoor
