Washington: US President Donald Trump on Monday claimed that a war would have broken out between India and Pakistan if he had not intervened during his presidency, adding that he had threatened to stall a trade deal to prevent the escalation.
Speaking at a press briefing ahead of his official talks with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Scotland, Trump said he had helped prevent six major wars during his time in office, including a potential conflict between India and Pakistan. He was responding to a question on whether he had pressured Israel to end the conflict in Gaza.
Addressing the media from his Turnberry Golf Resort in South Ayrshire, Scotland, Trump said, “We had many ceasefires. If it wasn’t for me, there would have been six big wars going on — India would be fighting with Pakistan.”
He described India and Pakistan as “two nuclear countries” and said the possibility of a war between them was a “very big issue.”
“I know the leaders of Pakistan and India. I know them very well. They were in the middle of a trade deal and yet they were talking about nuclear weapons… This is madness,” Trump said. “So I said, I’m not having a trade deal with you. And they want a trade deal, they need it.”
Trump added that he warned both countries of consequences if they pursued war. “If you’re going to have a war, I’m not going to have a trade deal with you. And it’s a war that will have an impact on other countries as well,” he said.
He warned of the global consequences of a nuclear conflict. “When they start using nuclear weapons, the leakage from that explosion is far and wide and really bad things happen,” Trump said. “So maybe we’re being a little selfish because we want to avoid wars — but we’ve stopped a lot of wars.”
India has consistently rejected claims of foreign mediation, including during ‘Operation Sindhur’ — a military response launched after the deadly Pakistan-backed terror attack in Pahalgam on April 22.
