Hours after the US President repeated his claims about India-Pakistan ceasefire, former foreign secretary Nirupama Menon Rao suggested that India’s official line should be that any future de-escalation measures between should remain the outcome of direct, bilateral discussions and also said Donald Trump should realise that the road to peace is through Wagah, not Washington.

The thread began with the post, "Given repeated statements by President Trump on the Indo-Pak ceasefire and purported US intervention, India’s best diplomatic posture would be:"

She recommended:

"1. Acknowledge the fact that headlines may be headlines, but the road to peace is through Wagah, not Washington."

"2. Reiterate firmly that all bilateral issues—including Kashmir and border management—must be resolved under the Shimla Agreement (1972) and the Lahore Declaration (1999)"

"3. Avoid giving further oxygen to third-party claims by not issuing direct rebuttals every time a headline-seeking statement is made."

"4. Redirect the international narrative to India’s North Star: “Only India and Pakistan can resolve their disputes through sustained, government-to-government talks.”

She suggested what India's official position should be and wrote, "And our official line, if I may suggest one, should be: the ceasefire and any future de-escalation measures between India and Pakistan are and will remain the outcome of direct, bilateral discussions between the two countries."

"There is no substitute for the sustained dialogue that only our two governments can conduct, only if Pakistan gives up its support and sustenance of terror directed against India and our people,” she added.

She has highlighted the strategic benefits of this approach for India, saying, "This allows India to shrug off headline-grabbing claims without appearing peremptory, reasserts sovereignty in foreign policy, and keeps the focus on bilateralism. (Mr. Trump should realise that three’s a crowd here). #Trumpindopak."

US President Donald Trump on Friday repeated his claim that he stopped India and Pakistan from fighting and told the two nations that his administration cannot trade with people that are shooting at each other.

Earlier, former Ambassador to the US, Navtej Sarna, had also said that claiming credit for phone calls is different from mediation.

"This is not mediation in the sense of a third country mediating like US-Iran talks. Some countries claiming credit for making a few phone calls is different from mediation," said Sarna, in an interview with Frontline on May 21.

"There are voices in the US telling President Trump to stay away from trying to resolve disputes between India and Pakistan. In this case, we must push back that mediation doesn’t happen like this," he added.

Nirupama Menon Rao is a retired Indian diplomat who held several key positions over the course of her distinguished career.

She served as India’s Ambassador to China from 2006 to 2009, and later became the country’s Foreign Secretary from 2009 to 2011—only the second woman to hold the post.

Following her tenure as foreign secretary, she was appointed India’s Ambassador to the US, serving from 2011 to 2013.

Rao also held significant diplomatic assignments in Sri Lanka, Peru, and Germany, and was the first woman spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs.