Trump Announces Indo-Pak Ceasefire; Pre-empts Modi’s Address

On 10 Apr, the fourth day of the rapidly escalating India-Pakistan conflict, US President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire on X. He followed up with a longer announcement promising ‘increased trade’ with both countries. Soon, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also announced the declaration of a ceasefire and said, ‘I am pleased to announce the Governments of India and Pakistan have agreed to an immediate ceasefire and to start talks on a broad set of issues at a neutral site.’ The announcements show the US is ready to intervene in the affairs of both countries. This is unprecedented in India’s history because instead of India or Pakistan, a third-party announced the ceasefire while it was not even known if the US was mediating talks between them. Even more so, India has always maintained it will not talk to Pakistan until it stops terrorism in their country, and Kashmir remains a bilateral issue between them. In the past, India has repeatedly asserted it will not accept third-party intervention. Later that evening, Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri confirmed the ceasefire. Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called the ceasefire announcement a victory for Pakistan. On 12 May, Indian PM Narendra Modi was to ‘address the nation’ for the first time since the 22 Apr Pahalgam attack which sparked India’s attack on Pakistan’s ‘terror infrastructure’ and led to hostilities between them. However, Trump pre-empted Modi’s speech when he spoke at the White House. He said, ‘If you don't stop it (the war), we are not going to do any trade (with you) … we stopped a nuclear conflict, millions of people could have died.’ Trump rightly points at both countries’ nuclear arsenal, however India’s principal opposition party, the Indian National Congress (INC) seems unmindful of it. Without acknowledging how both countries were on the brink of disaster, INC is now questioning the term ‘ceasefire’ because this was not a ‘formal war.’ In his speech Modi thanked India’s armed forces, intelligence agencies, and scientists. Meanwhile, On 9 May, despite India’s objection, the International Monetary Fund sanctioned a USD 1.3B loan to Pakistan (earlier coverage).