New Delhi, May 11 -- Senior Congress leader and former Union Education Minister Karan Singh on Sunday said that US President Donald Trump announcing the "ceasefire" between India and Pakistan amid escalated tensions following the launch Operation Sindoor, in response to the ghastly Pahalgam terror attack could have been avoided.

He expressed surprise over Trump announcing a "ceasefire" before anyone else, but said that the possible damage on both sides due to escalation has been averted. Singh, son of former Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir Hari Singh, informed that this was not the first time that a third party had intervened.

"This is not the first time a third party has intervened. After the 1965 war, for instance, we went to Tashkent a...