The borderline between truth and propaganda gets blurred during war. That is only natural since two warring groups or countries are supposedly propelled by the sole aim of defeating the enemy by hook or by crook. Pure propaganda, half-truth or even falsehood is a potent arsenal in the armory of warring sides. As the Bard said “everything is fair in love and war.” But, when a third party starts staking claims of playing a key role in a war between two countries in such a manner that confusion is created between truth and falsehood, it poses a grave problem. This is what is currently happening in the case of India-Pakistan conflict in the wake of the Pahalgam terrorist attack that nearly developed into a full-blown war but luckily stopped short. The claims and counterclaims made by both countries regarding the damage caused by the one on the other are obviously part of war games that rest on falsehood.
In this case, all sides are claiming victory. Indian leaders, both civil and military, have openly admitted that the respective Directors General Military Operations (DGMOs) of both nations were in constant touch with each other and a ‘rational’ war was fought. Pakistan has not refuted this claim. While India has claimed it has struck deep inside Pakistan territory and successfully destroyed terror infra in selected places in a measured aggression, Pakistan has also promoted its Army chief Syed Asim Munir claiming that he could give India a befitting military reply in the 4 day conflict. The third party is China which stated, in its now banned in India news sources Global Times, that the missiles and fighter jets it had supplied Pakistan performed effectively in combating western supplied aircraft such as the French Rafale and Mirage. But the fourth party in this fray is US President Donald Trump who not only claimed credit for effecting the ceasefire between the two nuclear armed countries a couple of hours before the declaration of truce, but still keeps repeating it despite denial by India. He did it again making people, especially in India, wonder who is telling the truth – Trump or India?
In the last few weeks, Trump repeatedly claimed that he told India and Pakistan that the US would stop trade with the two nations if they did not stop the conflict. The Indian government kept insisting that trade was not even discussed by Trump. In his latest boast, Trump has gone even further to claim that the “deal” he is most proud of is that he was able to stop “potentially a nuclear war” between India and Pakistan through trade instead of “bullets.” In his typical swagger he said, “Normally, they do it through bullets. We do it through trade.” Even as an all-party delegation from India is touring the US as part of India’s outreach programme to explain the “gains” of India’s Operation Sindoor directed at Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack, Trump has revealed Pakistani representatives too are coming to Washington in the next few days. India’s dogged denial that Trump’s mediation was responsible for the ceasefire falls flat as the US President made his claim twice on the same day a couple of days back at Joint Base and in the Oval Office with the words that he would not have any interest in making a deal with either India or Pakistan, “if they were going to be at war with each other.” At the same time he gave a backhanded compliment to the leadership of both the countries saying he talked about trade with them and told them he cannot trade with “people that are shooting at each other and potentially using nuclear weapons.” This claim of Trump is something that should not be allowed to go unchallenged if there is no truth in it as the Indian government is claiming. This has put the credibility of Indian leadership in danger. People are wondering which one of these two is speaking the truth. If the truth is on the side of the US President, then it becomes a serious matter for India as the latter’s stand in the international forums has, for decades, been that it will not brook third party involvement in the Kashmir issue.
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Trump’s claim has compromised India’s position on the most sensitive issue. India’s response mainly through occasional denials by the External Affairs Minister and foreign ministry officials appears rather lame. Since Trump keeps repeating his claim, it is time India should take the matter up at the highest level with the Prime Minister denying it or it should stop any kind of disowning it. The all-party delegation of Indian Parliamentarians, led by Congress MP Sashi Tharoor, is scheduled to visit Washington DC on 3 June after completing their visits to Guyana, Panama, Colombia, and Brazil, conveying India’s resolve against terrorism and emphasising Pakistan’s links to terrorism. It needs to get a clarification from the US administration as to why Trump is still continuing with his claim which the Indian government has stated to be false. Tharoor as the delegation head should use his known verbal skills to find out who is telling the truth. This is no less important than his diplomatic offensive in defence of Operation Sindoor. Otherwise he too will be exposed as a pompous and ornamental English speaker who has very little substance and understanding.