Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Monday denied US President Donald Trump’s claims of brokering a ceasefire between India and Pakistan, stating that no such intervention had taken place. Tharoor, during an all-party parliamentary delegation in Brazil, made the remarks ahead of his delegation's visit to the United States.

Tharoor said that if at all the US had played any role in halting the conflict between New Delhi and Islamabad, it was likely directed at Pakistan, as India required no persuasion to cease hostilities.

Speaking to news agency ANI, Tharoor said, “We have enormous respect for the American presidency, and we will speak with that respect in mind. But broadly speaking, our understanding is a bit 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 persuasion of the Pakistanis. They would have had to be persuaded. We don't need to be persuaded because we don't want war. We want to focus on development. That's the basic message,” Tharoor said.

The Congress MP also stated that it had been consistently made clear from the very beginning that there was no intention to prolong the conflict. He further emphasised that it was not the opening salvo of a war, but simply an act of retribution against terrorists.

“If Pakistan had not reacted, we would not have reacted…The message was the same from India to everybody who would listen, if they hit, we hit; if they stop, we stop. We don’t want war,” he said.

Donald Trump had repeatedly made claims that it was the US who acted as a mediator between India and Pakistan following four days of missile and drone exchanges. Trump was the first to make the announcement publicly, which was later confirmed by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri during a press briefing.

India has firmly rejected any claims of mediation, stating that the agreement was made after Pakistan’s Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) contacted his Indian counterpart. The two nations agreed to a ceasefire on May 10, following an escalation by Pakistan in response to India’s Operation Sindoor.

‘Duelling delegations’ from India and Pakistan in US

On Monday, Pakistan revealed the details of its international diplomatic campaign aimed at garnering global support in the aftermath of the conflict with India. This move follows India’s dispatch of seven multi-party delegations to 33 world capitals as part of its diplomatic efforts after the terrorist attack in Pahalgam that resulted in 26 deaths.

Both the country’s delegation will visit the United States at the same time.

“In Washington, we'll have the interesting phenomenon of the Pakistani delegation in America, and almost exactly the same days... Tomorrow almost they will be in Washington, while we are in Washington on the same date. So there's going to be perhaps an increase in interest because there are two duelling delegations in the same city," Tharoor said as reported by India Today.

Shashi Tharoor outlined the itinerary of his delegation’s visit to Washington, explaining that they had arranged a series of meetings covering a broad spectrum of perspectives. The team has already traveled to Guyana, Panama, Colombia, and Brazil.