NEW DELHI: US President Donald Trump has once again claimed credit for defusing tensions between India and Pakistan, a statement that has now been repeated 22 times in just 65 days, according to Congress leader Jairam Ramesh.
On Monday, during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office, Trump reiterated that his intervention prevented what could have escalated into a “nuclear war” between the two countries — and claimed it was achieved through trade diplomacy.
“We’ve been very successful in settling wars. You have India and Pakistan. You have Rwanda and the Congo — that was going on for 30 years,” Trump said.
Tagging a video clip of Trump’s remarks, Ramesh, the Congress general secretary in charge of communications, wrote: “65 days. 22 times. The same claim. It keeps getting repeated.”
In his remarks, Trump added, “India, by the way, Pakistan would have been a nuclear war within another week the way that was going. That was going very badly. And we did that through trade. I said, ‘We’re not going to talk to you about trade unless you get this thing settled.’ And they did. They were both great leaders.”
Since May 10 — when Trump announced on social media that India and Pakistan had agreed to a full and immediate ceasefire after a night of talks mediated by Washington — he has repeated the claim multiple times, asserting his administration helped resolve the crisis.
However, India has consistently maintained that the ceasefire understanding was reached through direct military-level talks between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of the two countries.
According to Indian officials, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during a 35-minute phone call with Trump last month, clearly stated that India does not and will never accept third-party mediation. They further clarified that the discussions on halting military action were initiated by Pakistan through backchannel outreach.
India had launched Operation Sindoor on May 7 in response to the Pahalgam terror attack, which killed 26 civilians. The operation targeted terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. After four days of heavy cross-border missile and drone exchanges, India and Pakistan reached a ceasefire understanding on May 10.
