India Says No Third-Party Role in India–Pakistan Relations, Rejects China’s Claim

India has firmly rejected China’s claim that it played a mediating role between New Delhi and Islamabad, reiterating that all engagements between India and Pakistan are strictly bilateral.

Following Operation Sindoor, India and Pakistan agreed to maintain a ceasefire on May 10, 2025. However, China recently claimed that it acted as a mediator during the conflict earlier this year, an assertion India has now denied.

New Delhi clarified that no third party was involved in the decision to declare a ceasefire on May 10. Earlier this year, US President Donald Trump had also claimed that he helped mediate and pressured India and Pakistan into agreeing to a ceasefire following Operation Sindoor.

According to a report by India Today, Indian officials said, “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 Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of the two countries.”

India’s response comes after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi claimed that Beijing had mediated several global conflicts, including the India–Pakistan standoff in May.

Speaking at an event on Tuesday, Wang Yi said, “This year, local wars and cross-border conflicts flared up more often than at any time since the end of World War II.”

He further added, “Following this Chinese approach to settling hotspot issues, we mediated in northern Myanmar, the Iranian nuclear issue, tensions between Pakistan and India, issues between Palestine and Israel, and the recent conflict between Cambodia and Thailand.”