India on has firmly rejected China’s claim that it played a mediating role in the ceasefire between New Delhi and Islamabad following the May military confrontation, reiterating that the truce was reached strictly through bilateral military channels.
New Delhi has consistently maintained that the ceasefire on May 10, after Operation Sindoor, was agreed upon through direct communication between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of India and Pakistan, with no involvement of any third party.
“We have already refuted such claims. On bilateral issues between India and Pakistan, there is no role for a third party. Our position has been clarified on several occasions in the past that the India-Pakistan ceasefire was agreed to directly between the DGMOs of the two countries,” the MEA said in a response to China.
The response came after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi claimed that Beijing had mediated several global conflicts this year, including the standoff between India and Pakistan in May. Addressing an event on Tuesday, Wang said that conflicts and cross-border wars had flared up more frequently this year than at any time since the end of the Second World War.
“This year, local wars and cross-border conflicts flared up more often than at any time since the end of WWII,” Wang Yi said.
He further asserted that China, while adopting an “objective and neutral stance”, had sought to address both the symptoms and root causes of conflicts to “build peace that lasts”.
“Following this Chinese approach to settling hotspot issues, we mediated in northern Myanmar, the Iranian nuclear issue, the tensions between Pakistan and India, the issues between Palestine and Israel, and the recent conflict between Cambodia and Thailand,” the Chinese foreign minister said.
Also read: India flags Pakistan's arms buildup post Op Sindoor, alarming
China’s assertion has placed it alongside US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly claimed that Washington helped prevent the India-Pakistan conflict from escalating. Trump has made the assertion on multiple occasions, including at global forums, press briefings and bilateral meetings with foreign leaders.
New Delhi, however, has rejected all such claims, underlining that the cessation of hostilities was a sovereign decision taken through established military channels between the two neighbours.
Beijing’s claim has also drawn scrutiny in India in light of China’s close strategic and military ties with Pakistan. During the three-day hostilities in May, China was seen as firmly backing Islamabad and was alleged to have provided military assistance. Indian strikes during Operation Sindoor reportedly targeted 11 military bases deep inside Pakistan, with Chinese-supplied air defence systems failing to intercept the attacks.
China’s role came under sharper focus after senior Army officer Rahul R Singh said Beijing had used the confrontation as a “live lab” to test its weapons and systems.
“Pakistan was at the front. China was providing all possible support... In the last five years, 81% of the military hardware that Pakistan is getting is all Chinese. China is able to test its weapons against other weapons, so it's like a live lab available to them,” he said at an event in Delhi.
The brief but intense confrontation between India and Pakistan was triggered by a terror attack in Pahalgam on April 22, in which 26 civilians were killed. India responded with Operation Sindoor, destroying nine terror camps across the border, before both sides agreed to a ceasefire on May 10.
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