Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif wants Trump's help in dialogue with India, thanks him for ceasefire mediation

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday (June 5) urged US President Donald Trump to facilitate dialogue with India. Addressing an event at the US embassy in Islamabad, Sharif thanked the US President for his role in the India-Pakistan ceasefire - a claim that New Delhi has categorically rejected.

Sharif praised Trump for his role in helping de-escalate the situation with India and urged Washington to facilitate a comprehensive dialogue between the two nuclear neighbours.

Sharif echoed the statements of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chief Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari who said the same in Washington while speaking to journalists.

"On 10 different occasions, he has taken credit for facilitating the ceasefire between India and Pakistan -- and rightly so. He deserves that credit because it was his efforts that helped make the ceasefire possible. So, if the US is willing to help Pakistan in maintaining this ceasefire, it is reasonable to expect that an American role in arranging a comprehensive dialogue would also be beneficial for us," Bhutto said.

India's stance on Trump's mediation claims

India said that the ceasefire understanding reached between the two nations was bilateral and no third-party mediation was involved. New Delhi stated that it received calls from US Vice President JD Vance and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and both were told that any request for a ceasefire should come from the Pakistani side and not any other country. It was after this, that the Pakistani DGMO contacted the Indian counterpart and an understanding was reached. India's Ministry of External Affairs has also said that trade was not used in the conversation.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, who is in the US leading an Indian delegation, commented on US President Donald Trump's repeated claims of mediation between India and Pakistan after tensions rose between the two nations last month. Stating that he respects the US president, Tharoor clarified that India's understanding of the issue is different.

“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 the persuasion of the Pakistanis. They would have had to be persuaded. We don't need to be persuaded because we don't want war.” He added, "Our understanding is a bit different…We had consistently said from the very beginning on May 7th that we were not interested in prolonging the conflict. This is not the opening salvo in some sort of war. All it is is retribution against the terrorists, period. If Pakistan had not reacted, we would not have reacted...”