Modi Reiterates India’s Rejection of US Mediation on Kashmir in Call with Trump

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reiterated New Delhi’s longstanding position rejecting any third-party involvement in the Kashmir dispute, during a phone conversation with US President Donald Trump.

The exchange follows Trump’s repeated claims of American mediation efforts following a recent escalation in hostilities between India and Pakistan.

According to India’s Foreign Secretary, Vikram Misri, Modi “strongly conveyed” to Trump that India would not accept foreign mediation in what it considers a strictly bilateral matter. The call took place on Tuesday and comes amid heightened tensions following a brief but intense four-day conflict between the two nuclear-armed neighbours in May.

“The Prime Minister told President Trump in no uncertain terms that Kashmir is an internal matter for India, and any dialogue, if at all, must be held directly between India and Pakistan,” Misri said. He also clarified that at no point during the recent conflict were discussions held regarding American involvement in peace talks or in the separate India–US trade negotiations.

The White House has so far issued no public comment on Modi’s statement.

President Trump has previously claimed that Washington played a central role in brokering a ceasefire between India and Pakistan following the hostilities in May. Speaking to reporters last month, Trump said: “I said, ‘Come on, we’re going to do a lot of trade with you guys. Let’s stop it. If you stop it, we’ll do a trade. If you don’t stop it, we’re not going to do any trade.’”

He later announced on 10 May that the two countries had agreed to a “full and immediate ceasefire” allegedly brokered by the United States. In a subsequent message on Truth Social, he added that he hoped to “work with both sides” towards resolving the Kashmir issue — describing it as a conflict of “a thousand years”, despite the dispute originating in 1947 with the Partition of British India.

A statement issued on the same day by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested that India and Pakistan had also agreed to begin discussions “on a broad set of issues at a neutral site”. Islamabad welcomed the US’s role, with Pakistan’s Foreign Minister stating that “three dozen countries” had been involved in the diplomatic process. India, however, continues to reject these claims, asserting that any de-escalation occurred solely through established bilateral military communication channels.

“The talks regarding cessation of military action were held directly between India and Pakistan under the existing channels established between both militaries,” Misri said.

The May conflict was triggered after India accused Pakistan-based militants of carrying out an attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir on 22 April, resulting in 26 fatalities, most of them visitors from other Indian states. Pakistan denied any involvement. In response, India conducted air strikes on what it described as terrorist infrastructure across the Line of Control. A four-day military engagement ensued, involving air and artillery strikes by both sides, with claims and counter-claims of targeting military infrastructure.

While the immediate conflict was brought to a halt, the diplomatic consequences continue to unfold. Modi’s conversation with Trump appears intended to reinforce India’s traditional objection to being placed on an equal diplomatic footing with Pakistan by Western powers. Delhi has consistently discouraged Western interlocutors from engaging with India and Pakistan in tandem or drawing parallels between the two countries in public statements.

Trump’s public characterisations of India and Pakistan as co-equals — especially in the context of mediation — have generated unease in Delhi’s foreign policy circles. Indian officials have reportedly communicated their concerns privately to Washington in previous instances, and Modi’s direct rebuttal to Trump’s latest comments may be intended to reaffirm those boundaries.

Meanwhile, India is under pressure to conclude trade negotiations with the United States before a temporary freeze on additional tariffs expires on 9 July. Trade talks had been underway before the May conflict, but Modi’s government is keen to prevent security-related discussions from being conflated with trade diplomacy.

Analysts suggest that while Trump’s comments have challenged India’s diplomatic posture on Kashmir, it remains unlikely that these differences will significantly disrupt trade negotiations in the immediate term. However, the episode is viewed in Delhi as another reminder of the unpredictability of Trump’s foreign policy interventions, particularly in matters involving longstanding regional sensitivities.

Kashmir remains a deeply contentious issue. Both India and Pakistan claim the territory in full but control only parts of it. A series of bilateral dialogues over several decades have failed to resolve the dispute. India maintains that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of its territory and rejects any suggestion of international involvement.

While the recent flare-up appears to have subsided, Modi’s firm response highlights the continuing sensitivity surrounding external commentary on the Kashmir dispute — and the limits of Washington’s influence in South Asia’s most entrenched conflict.

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