Washington: United States President Donald Trump on Friday once again claimed that he played a decisive role in preventing a full-scale war between India and Pakistan, asserting that Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif personally thanked him for averting a conflict that could have cost millions of lives.
Trump made the remarks while responding to questions from reporters during a meeting with top oil and gas executives at the White House. Recalling Sharif’s recent visit to the United States, Trump said the Pakistani leader had publicly acknowledged his intervention.
“The Prime Minister of Pakistan came here, and he made a very public statement. He said that President Trump saved minimum ten million lives having to do with Pakistan and India, and that was going to be raging,” Trump said.
Nobel Peace Prize Remarks
Speaking about the Nobel Peace Prize, Trump said he was reluctant to “brag” about settling conflicts, but added that he could not think of “anybody in history” who deserved the honour more than him.
“Whether people like Trump or don’t like Trump, I settled eight wars — big ones. Some going on for 36 years, 32, 31, 28, 25 years,” he said. Trump further claimed he helped prevent a war between India and Pakistan “where eight jets were shot out in the air” and did so “in rapid order without nuclear weapons.”
“You should get the Nobel Prize for every war you stopped. These were major wars, wars nobody thought could be stopped,” Trump said, adding that his primary concern was saving lives, not accolades. “I’ve saved tens of millions of lives.”
India Rejects Third-Party Mediation Claims
Trump has made similar claims multiple times since May last year, insisting that US pressure led to de-escalation between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. However, India has consistently rejected these assertions, maintaining that there was no third-party involvement in ending the hostilities.
According to the Indian government, the ceasefire followed direct communication between India and Pakistan after India launched Operation Sindoor to target terror bases in Pakistan. The operation was initiated in response to the Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir in April 2025, which killed 26 people.
Indian officials have stated that it was Pakistan’s Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) who contacted his Indian counterpart on May 10, requesting an end to hostilities. The ceasefire was subsequently agreed upon through bilateral military channels.
While Trump continues to portray the episode as one of his major diplomatic achievements, New Delhi has reiterated that the decision to halt military action was sovereign, bilateral, and driven by India’s own strategic considerations, not external mediation.