US President Donald Trump took another swipe at India’s Narendra Modi-led government on Tuesday, mocking New Delhi over the loss of seven aircraft in its May clash with Pakistan and calling it a major embarrassment.
Trump also reiterated his claim that he personally brokered the ceasefire, stating he prevented a potential nuclear war between the two neighbours.
While addressing business leaders in Japan, Trump said that many of the wars he stopped were linked to the tariffs he imposed on several countries. He called his trade moves “a great service to the world.”
“If you look at India and Pakistan, they were going at it,” Trump said. “Seven brand-new, beautiful planes were shot down.
“I said to [Indian] Prime Minister Modi and I said to the Prime Minister [Shehbaz Sharif], very nice man, a very good man and the Field Marshal [Asim Munir] over in Pakistan … I said, ‘look we’re not going to do any trade if you’re going to be fighting’,” Trump said.
“We said ‘no, we’re not doing any deals if you’re going to fight’ and within 24 hours that was the end of that. It was amazing, actually,” he added. “I think trade is responsible for 70 percent of the fact that we didn’t have wars.”
Earlier, while speaking during a Diwali celebration at the White House on October 22, Trump said he had told Modi that there should be no war with Pakistan. He claimed he had helped avoid several conflicts through diplomacy and trade pressure.
Trump said, “Although we did talk a little while ago about let’s have no wars with Pakistan.” He explained that commerce played a key role in easing tensions. “The fact that trade was involved, I was able to talk about that.”
He proudly summed up the outcome: “And we have no war with Pakistan and India. That was a very, very good thing.” He also praised Modi, saying, “He’s a great person, and he’s become a great friend of mine over the years.”
Trump said he had prevented eight wars so far through “deals and trade,” including the one between Pakistan and India.
He has often taken credit for easing tensions between the two nuclear-armed countries, which have fought three wars since independence and remain in conflict over Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
In May, Pakistan and India clashed in their worst military confrontation in decades after an attack on tourists in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam area. New Delhi accused Islamabad of backing the attack that killed 26 people, but Pakistan rejected the charge.
India responded with unprovoked attacks on Pakistani civilians for three days, prompting Pakistan’s forces to retaliate with Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos.
Pakistan shot down seven Indian Air Force jets, including three Rafale aircraft, and destroyed dozens of drones.
After 87 hours of intense fighting, the conflict ended on May 10 with a ceasefire that Trump claimed to have brokered.