At a media briefing on May 13, India’s Ministry of External Affairs dismissed President Donald Trump’s claims of having “mediated” a “full and immediate ceasefire” between New Delhi and Islamabad. The deal was “bilaterally reached,” it said.

A day later, Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar told reporters there was “absolutely no change” in New Delhi’s long-standing position that all dealings with Pakistan would be “strictly bilateral.”

Trump had announced the India-Pakistan ceasefire and the U.S. role in brokering it on May 10. Soon after, India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri announced at a special briefing that the Director General of Military Operations of Pakistan had initiated a call with his Indian counterpart and both sides agreed to “stop all firing and military action on land and in the air and sea.” He made no mention of the United States.

This, however, did not restrain Trump from repeatedly claiming thereafter that the U.S. had brokered the ceasefire between India and Pakistan. During his ongoing Middle East tour, Trump said in Saudi Arabia that he “used trade to a large extent” to broker the ceasefire. However, in Qatar, he did tone down his claims, saying he “helped settle the problem,” but reiterated having used trade as leverage.

Back in India, public outrage and criticism, particularly from the opposition parties, prompted the Indian foreign ministry to end the Narendra Modi government’s silence on the question of U.S. mediation. It has clarified that while there were there were “conversations” between Indian and U.S. leaders on the “evolving military situation,” the issue of trade “did not come up in any of these discussions.”

Trump’s announcement of the ceasefire on social media, before the concerned........

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