Former Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan has firmly rejected US President Donald Trump’s repeated claims of mediating the India-Pakistan ceasefire during Operation Sindoor, stressing that the truce was decided solely between the two countries’ Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs).

He also raised concerns about how Washington announced the ceasefire before India could, suggesting the information leaked from Pakistan’s side.

General Anil Chauhan, speaking at the Vivekananda Centre in New Delhi, clarified that the ceasefire was arranged directly through military channels.

He recounted that the Indian DGMO received a call at about 9:30 in the morning, but the Pakistani counterpart was unavailable until 3 o’clock. The two sides eventually agreed at 5 o’clock to halt hostilities. Chauhan emphasised that the decision was entirely bilateral, stating, “So the ceasefire is decided between two DGMOs. And that’s it. Means I don’t see the role of anyone else.”

He questioned how the United States was able to announce the ceasefire before India and Pakistan themselves. Chauhan said secrecy was maintained at the DGMO level, and he was confident the leak did not originate from the Indian side. He suggested that the information must have come from Pakistan, noting, “It somehow got leaked out from the other side. That’s what I feel.”

Trump, however, has continued to assert that his threat of imposing 250 per cent tariffs forced both nations to stop fighting. He claimed that India and Pakistan were “screaming and yelling” in anger but eventually agreed to halt the war after his intervention.

He also repeated his assertion that 11 planes were shot down during the confrontation and that Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif credited him with saving 50 million lives. New Delhi has consistently rejected these claims, disputing the aircraft losses and denying any external mediation.

Operation Sindoor was launched by India on 7 May 2025 as a decisive response to the 22 April Pahalgam terror attack, which killed twenty-six civilians. The operation targeted terror infrastructure across Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, dismantling launchpads and camps.

The strikes were paused on 10 May 2025 after Pakistan’s DGMO formally requested a ceasefire. Chauhan highlighted that the operational success was driven by India’s superior situational awareness, battlefield transparency, and clear political direction, which gave the armed forces freedom to act decisively.

Additional details have since emerged about the operation. Chauhan acknowledged that a loitering munition deployed near Sargodha may have inadvertently struck the Kirana Hills, an area known to house nuclear-related facilities.

He clarified that India did not deliberately target the site, but the munition, after failing to locate a radar, may have descended and hit the hills. Pakistani media had circulated images of smoke rising from the area, fuelling speculation. Chauhan stressed that this was not intentional and reiterated that India’s strikes were focused on terror infrastructure.

India has repeatedly underscored its position that all matters with Pakistan, including ceasefire arrangements, are strictly bilateral. Officials have dismissed Trump’s narrative as inaccurate and inconsistent with the facts.

The divergence between Trump’s claims and India’s official account highlights the continuing tension in how the episode is portrayed internationally.

ANI