WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. President Donald Trump repeated his assertion on Tuesday that he was the only one who could have stopped a war between India and Pakistan. He said that Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir gave him credit for stopping a possible full-scale war.
Trump talked about how the Army Chief had praised him at a recent meeting with Munir and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Trump remarked, “He [Munir] told a group of people who were with us that this man [Trump] saved millions of lives because he stopped the war from going on.” “That war was going to turn really ugly… I enjoyed the way he said it.
The Conflict’s Background
The two nuclear neighbors’ military rivalry got worse in May of this year when India started Operation Sindoor. This military action includes hitting terrorist targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) in response to the Pahalgam terrorist incident on April 22 that murdered 26 civilians.
On May 10, a truce was announced in the middle of the escalation, and Trump has frequently taken credit for it, even saying he merits a Nobel Peace Prize.
Trump said in his most recent remark, “India and Pakistan were going at it.” I called both of them… They had just taken down seven planes… I told them that if they did this, there would be no trade, and that ended the war. It lasted for four days.
Linking the Truce to the Gaza Peace Plan
Trump said that his supposed accomplishment in the India-Pakistan conflict was like his recently revealed Gaza peace proposal, which he called a possible “settlement in the Middle East that hasn’t happened for 3,000 years.”
He said that all of the Arab and Muslim countries have agreed on the Gaza proposal. Israel has said yes. “It’s an amazing thing.” He notably mentioned Pakistan’s support, saying that the Prime Minister and Field Marshal Munir were “with us from the start” and made a statement saying they were “fully committed to this pact.”
India’s Position
Even though the U.S. President has often and in detail claimed that diplomacy was involved, India has always denied that any third party was involved in the ceasefire. India said at the United Nations General Assembly last week that the ceasefire was only struck after Pakistan’s military “pleaded” with it to stop fighting. This shows that New Delhi has long been opposed third-party intervention in bilateral matters.