US President Donald Trump has once again reiterated his assertion that he played a key role in brokering a ceasefire between India and Pakistan during a military standoff in May. Speaking recently, Trump claimed he personally intervened between the two nuclear-armed nations and used the threat of trade restrictions and high tariffs to pressure Prime Minister Narendra Modi into halting hostilities with Islamabad.
“I am talking to a very terrific man, Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi. I said, What’s going on with you and Pakistan? The hatred was tremendous,” Trump said, describing his alleged conversation with PM Modi.
However, New Delhi has firmly dismissed Trump’s narrative, maintaining that the agreement to cease hostilities was reached solely through direct communication between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of India and Pakistan.
Trump also commented on the long-standing tensions between the two countries, stating, “Tensions between India and Pakistan have been going on for a hell of a long time, like, sometimes with different names for hundreds of years.”
India and Pakistan emerged as independent nations in 1947 following the end of British colonial rule, which had lasted nearly two centuries. Prior to that, the Indian subcontinent comprised numerous princely states and kingdoms.
To facilitate peace, Trump claimed he issued an ultimatum to PM Modi, threatening to withhold trade deals and impose steep tariffs.
“I said, I don’t want to make a trade deal with you… You guys are going to end up in a nuclear war… I said, call me back tomorrow, but we’re not going to do any deals with you, or we’re going to put tariffs on you that are so high, your head’s going to spin,” Trump recounted.
According to him, a ceasefire agreement was reached within just five hours of this exchange. “Within about five hours, it was done… Now maybe it starts again. I don’t know. I don’t think so, but I’ll stop it if it does. We can’t let these things happen,” he added.
This is not the first time Trump has claimed credit for mediating peace between the South Asian neighbours. Since his 10 May announcement on social media declaring a “full and immediate” ceasefire between India and Pakistan after a “long night” of negotiations allegedly mediated by Washington, Trump has repeated his version of events more than 40 times.
During a recent press briefing at the White House, Trump went further, stating he had prevented seven wars globally during his tenure, four of which, he said, were resolved using trade threats.
“I had tariffs and trade, and I was able to say, ‘If you go fight and want to kill everybody, that is okay, but I am going to charge you each a 100% tariff when you trade with us.’ They all gave up,” he told reporters.
“I have stopped all of these wars. A big one would have been India and Pakistan…,” he added.
“The war with India and Pakistan was the next level that was going to be a nuclear war… They already shot down 7 jets, that was raging. I said, ‘You want to trade? We are not doing any trade or anything with you. If you keep fighting, you’ve got 24 hours to settle it.’ They said, ‘Well, there’s no more war going on.’ I used that on numerous occasions. I used trade and whatever I had to use…,” Trump claimed.
India, meanwhile, has repeatedly denied any third-party intervention in resolving the conflict during Operation Sindoor. Prime Minister Modi, addressing Parliament, made it clear that no foreign leader asked India to halt its military response against Pakistan.
