While US mediators, alongside diplomatic backchannels, prevented a bigger conflagration, President Trump's offer has put Delhi in a spot. "Obviously, it would not be welcome by the Indian side. It goes against our stated position for many years," Shyam Saran, a former Indian foreign secretary, tells the BBC.

A series of military strikes last week by India and Pakistan brought the nuclear-armed rivals closer to a broader war.

India on Tuesday appeared to push back against US President Donald Trump’s offer of mediation on the Kashmir issue, assertion on trade and his claims of defusing a nuclear conflict in the context of hostilities between Indian and Pakistani militaries following the Pahalgam terror attack.