Modi asked to explain China’s claim on mediating Pak-India truce

Published January 1, 2026
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi attends the Quad leaders’ summit, in Tokyo, Japan, May 24. — Reuters/File
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi attends the Quad leaders’ summit, in Tokyo, Japan, May 24. — Reuters/File

NEW DELHI: India’s opposition Congress party said on Wedne­s­day it was concerned by Beijing’s claims on helping broker the India-Pakistan truce after the military flare-up in May and asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to clarify the issue.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Tuesday that the conflict between India and Pakistan in May was among the contentious matters mediated by Beijing in 2025.

India has repeatedly rejected claims made by US President Donald Trump that Washington had mediated the ceasefire.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs has not reacted to the claim made by Mr Wang. But it has maintained that the ceasefire with Islamabad was not the result of mediation. The decision to stop the firing was taken after the Pakistani director general of military operations had called his Indian counterpart, New Delhi has said.

“China’s claims of mediating betw­een India and Pakistan are concerning — not just because they contradict what has been told to the country’s people so far, but also because they appear to mock our national security,” Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said in a social media post.

Mr Wang was commenting on China’s role in a tricky world. “This year, local wars and cross-border conflicts flared up more often than at any time since the end of WWII [World War II],” Mr Wang said at a conference on China’s foreign relations in Beijing. “Geopolitical turbulence continued to spread.”

To build lasting peace, “we have taken an objective and just stance, and focused on addressing both symptoms and root causes”, the Chinese minister added.

“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,” he claimed.

Published in Dawn, January 1st, 2026

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