New Delhi: US President Donald Trump has once again repeated his claim that he personally intervened to end what he described as a “very big” conflict between India and Pakistan earlier this year.
Speaking to military leaders in Quantico on Tuesday, Trump said he was “honoured” when Pakistan Army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir praised him for “saving millions of lives” by preventing the conflict from escalating.
“I have settled so many wars in just nine months of my administration,” Trump said. “I’ve settled seven. And yesterday we might have settled the biggest of them all. Pakistan and India, both nuclear powers I settled that.”
Trump claimed the fighting had already lasted four days and involved the downing of seven jets, though he did not specify which country’s aircraft were hit. According to him, he threatened to cut off trade with both nations unless they backed down. “You do this, there is not going to be any trade. And I stopped the war,” he said.
The US President further stated that during a recent meeting at the White House, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Army Chief Munir credited him for preventing a war that “was going to get very, very bad.” Trump said, “I was very honoured. He said it so beautifully President Trump saved millions of lives.”
Since May 10, when Trump announced that India and Pakistan had agreed to a “full and immediate” ceasefire, he has repeated this claim nearly 50 times including in his recent address to the UN General Assembly.
However, India has consistently denied any foreign mediation. New Delhi maintains that the ceasefire understanding was reached directly between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMO) of the two countries. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has stated in Parliament that no foreign leader asked India to stop Operation Sindoor, the military action underway at the time.
Trump, who has often spoken about his ambitions for a Nobel Peace Prize, said he should be recognised for preventing multiple wars. “They said if you stop Russia and Ukraine, you should get the Nobel. I said, what about the other seven? I should get one for each.”
While repeating his disappointment with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the Ukraine war, Trump insisted he would still be able to resolve that conflict “one way or the other.”
