Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Lok Sabha member Nishikant Dubey on Wednesday alleged that former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had written a letter to then United States (US) President Ronald Reagan, requesting assistance in negotiating with Pakistan.

Dubey posted what he claimed was a letter from a US president to the Indian Prime Minister on X. He said that under the 1972 Shimla Agreement, India and Pakistan had agreed to resolve disputes only through bilateral talks without any third-party mediation.

He asked on X, "It is not easy to be Gandhi. This letter is in reply to a letter written by US President Ronald Reagan to the then Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. When it was decided under the 1972 Shimla Agreement that any dispute between India and Pakistan would be negotiated only between the two countries and there would be no mediator, why did the then Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi ask for US President Reagan's help in negotiating with Pakistan?"

This disclosure added a new layer to the ongoing political debate about third-party involvement in India-Pakistan relations. The debate intensified following the Pahalgam terror attack and India’s retaliatory Operation Sindoor.

On Tuesday, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey shared what he said was a declassified 1971 US intelligence cable. The cable reportedly concerned former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s decision to accept a UN ceasefire proposal during the Bangladesh Liberation War. Dubey shared this in response to the Opposition’s demand for clarification from the Union Government about the US's involvement in a recent understanding on halting hostilities between India and Pakistan.

Dubey reiterated this claim by posting the purportedly declassified 1971 US intelligence cable. It mentioned Indira Gandhi's acceptance of a UN ceasefire proposal during the Bangladesh Liberation War. He did this in reaction to the Opposition's call for the government to clarify the US's role in the recent agreement on ceasing hostilities with Pakistan.

Dubey also questioned whether India prioritised the creation of Bangladesh over reclaiming Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and retrieving important sites like the Kartarpur Gurdwara.

He wrote on X, "Indira Gandhi, the Iron Lady. Under American pressure, India itself stopped the 1971 war despite opposition from the then Defence Minister Jagjivan Ram and Army Chief Sam Manekshaw. Babu Jagjivan Ram wanted that the war should be stopped only after our part of Kashmir, which Pakistan forcefully occupies, is back, but the fear of the Iron Lady and the terror of China could not do this. Was the priority for India to take back its land and the Kartarpur Gurdwara, or to create Bangladesh?"

Earlier, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh criticised External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar. He said Jaishankar had been "silent" on US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s comments about “US mediation” and a “neutral site” for India-Pakistan talks.

However, India refuted the claims made by the US President. The government reiterated that India and Pakistan would address any matter concerning the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir only through bilateral means.