Washington | US President Donald Trump has again claimed that he played a key role in defusing tensions between India and Pakistan by threatening to impose massive tariffs on both countries, saying the move "stopped the fighting" between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.
In an interview with Fox News on Wednesday, Trump said his "ability" to use trade and tariffs as diplomatic leverage helped bring “peace to the world” in multiple conflict zones.
Tariffs, he said, "give you a tremendous road to peace and the saving of millions of lives, just millions and millions of lives".
The president said he made seven peace deals where countries, in many cases, were fighting for hundreds of years and "millions of people were being killed".
"Not in all cases, but probably in at least five of the seven (peace deals) we've done, it was through trade. We're not going to deal with people that fight,” he said.
Trump said he told the countries that "we are not going to let you deal in the United States. We'll put tariffs on you".
To buttress his point, he gave the example of the recent military conflict between India and Pakistan, which he again claimed to have stopped.
Trump said he had told both India and Pakistan that the US would halt trade and impose "massive tariffs" unless they “put it together” and stop the fighting.
“You look at India and Pakistan, I said, well, we're not going to do business with either of you if you don't put it together. These are two nuclear nations. Seven planes were shot down, as you know, and they were really at it,” Trump said. He, however, did not specify which country's jets he was referring to.
“I said, we're not going to do any business with you. We're not going to have anything to do with you. We are going to put massive tariffs on both of you... And within 24 hours, I had a peace deal... they stopped the fighting,” the president claimed.
Trump also described his peace efforts in the Middle East as an “incredible thing", saying the Israel and Hamas' agreement to his peace plan to pause fighting is “so great for Israel, so great for Muslims, for the Arab countries, (and) for the United States”.
"This is more than Gaza. This is peace in the Middle East, and it's an incredible thing," he said.
India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the April 22 Pahalgam attack that killed 26 civilians.
India and Pakistan reached an understanding on May 10 to end the conflict after four days of intense cross-border drone and missile strikes.
India has consistently maintained that the understanding on cessation of hostilities with Pakistan was reached following direct talks between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of the two militaries.
Trump has repeated several times that he ended seven wars in the second term of his administration so far, including India and Pakistan, Cambodia and Thailand, Kosovo and Serbia, the Congo and Rwanda, Israel and Iran, Egypt and Ethiopia and Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Since May 10, when Trump announced on social media that India and Pakistan had agreed to a “full and immediate” ceasefire after a “long night” of talks mediated by Washington, he has repeated his claim dozens of times that he “helped settle” the conflict between India and Pakistan.
