Jaishankar refutes Trump used 'trade pressure' to solve India-Pak tensions, calls Pahalgam terror attack 'act of economic warfare'

India's External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Tuesday (Jul 1) firmly denied claims made by US President Donald Trump that Washington used trade pressure to push India and Pakistan toward a ceasefire after New Delhi launched its Operation Sindoor in May of this year. Referring to the Pahalgam terror attack — which was the catalyst behind the escalated India-Pakistan tensions, as an act of economic warfare — aimed at destroying tourism in Kashmir, which he said was the mainstay of the economy. He stressed that India would no longer allow a “free pass” for terrorism.

Jaishankar dismisses Trump's 'trade pressure’ claim

Speaking during a conversation with Newsweek, the Indian foreign minister offered a sharp counter to the narrative emerging from the White House, calling it inconsistent with events as they unfolded. Jaishankar said he was in the room when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US Vice President JD Vance had a telephonic conversation regarding the tensions of May 9.

Jaishankar said that Vance made it clear during the conversation that Pakistan was threatening a massive assault if certain conditions were not met. However, he said that Modi was "impervious" to the threats and said that there would be a response from India. He then confirmed that Islamabad launched a massive attack that night, to which India responded swiftly and appropriately.

He further revealed that the next day, he received a call from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who conveyed Pakistan's willingness to hold talks. When asked about Trump's claims of using trade to resolve the India-Pakistan conflict, Jaishankar said, "No, I don't think so. I think the trade people are doing what the trade people should be doing, which is negotiating with numbers and lines and products and making their trade-offs. I think they're very professional and very focused about it." Despite India's denials, Trump has repeatedly claimed credit for "brokering" peace between the two nations.

Pahalgam was "economic warfare", no more free pass for terrorism: Jaishankar

During the interview, Jaishankar also stressed that India will no longer allow terrorists to act as proxies while giving immunity to the states that sponsor them.

"We are not going to yield to nuclear blackmail that you know there could be escalation, and therefore we should not do anything," he said.

Describing the April 22 Pahalgam attack as an act of "economic warfare," Jaishankar noted that it was meant not only to kill but to crush the backbone of Kashmir's tourism-driven economy. India's "message to the world has to be that there should be zero tolerance for terrorism, that there should be no circumstances, no excuse, no justification, under which you would allow, support, finance, sponsor terrorist acts." He added that “no yielding to nuclear blackmail, no impunity to terrorists, no more free pass that they are proxies and we will do what we have to do to defend our people.”