Donald Trump has yet again claimed he prevented a “nuclear war” between India and Pakistan and saved the lives of millions of people.
The nuclear-powered neighbours stepped back from the brink of an all-out war in May last year following their worst military escalation in decades which saw dozens of people killed in cross-border shelling as well as drone and missile attacks on both sides.
“We’re proudly restoring safety for Americans at home and abroad. In my first ten months, I ended eight wars,” the US president said his State of the Union Address on Tuesday.
He added: “Pakistan and India would have had a nuclear war. Thirty-five million people, said the prime minister of Pakistan, would have died if it were not for my involvement.”
Mr Trump added that his administration is “working very hard to end a ninth war”.
Since posting on social media on 10 May that the two neighbours had agreed to a “full and immediate” ceasefire following US-mediated talks, Mr Trump has claimed credit for brokering the truce at least 80 times, according to media reports.
However, India has denied any involvement of the US and maintained that the request to end military operations had come from the director general of military operations in Pakistan.
Last week, with Pakistan’s prime minister Shehbaz Sharif in attendance, Mr Trump claimed that both nations agreed to a ceasefire after he threatened to impose 200 per cent tariffs on India and Pakistan.
At an event of the Board of Peace – an initiative to end Israel’s war in Gaza – Mr Trump asked Mr Sharif to stand up and then said, “I spoke to prime minister (Narendra) Modi. He’s excited. He’s watching us right now.”
Mr Trump continued: “And I got on the phone with both of them, and I knew him (Mr Sharif) a little bit. I knew Prime Minister Modi very well, actually. I got to know Pakistan through a little trade.
“And when I heard that they were fighting, I pick up a certain newspaper.… and I saw that Pakistan and India were really going at it. And then it got worse and worse, and… many planes were shot down. It was all out. And I called them, I said, ‘Listen, I’m not doing trade deals with you two guys, if you don’t settle this up’. They said, ‘No, no, no’,” Mr Trump added.
“I said, ‘No, it has to. If you don’t do it, I’m not doing a trade deal. We’re not doing a trade deal’,” he said.
Following the conflict last summer, both Pakistan and India claimed to have downed each other’s fighter jets in a dogfight that reportedly involved over 125 aircraft, making it the largest aerial battle since the Second World War.
Pakistan claimed it had shot down five Indian aircraft in air-to-air combat, including the French Rafale. India said it had downed “a few planes”, a claim that was refuted by Islamabad, even though the country acknowledged its air bases had suffered hits. India confirmed for the first time on 31 May that it had lost jets during the conflict but refused to clarify their number or nature.
The conflict broke out after India attacked alleged militant camps in Pakistan to avenge the deaths of 26 people, mostly Hindu tourists, killed in a terror attack in the Indian part of Kashmir on 22 April.
India accused Pakistan of backing the gunmen who carried out the massacre in the restive Himalayan valley. Islamabad denied the charge and sought an independent investigation.
