US President Donald Trump continues to pat his back for stopping wars using tariffs as a deterrent. In a fresh reiteration of his claim that he stopped India and Pakistan from going into a full-fledged war in May, Trump said that the two nuclear-armed neighbours shot down eight planes as he added another detail to it.
“India and Pakistan, eight planes were shot down. It was seven but now it is eight because the one that was sort of shot down is now abandoned,” Trump said while talking to reporters at the White House, adding that he ended five or six wars, out of eight, because of tariffs.
“If you look at India and Pakistan, they were about to fight, two nuclear nations. Eight planes were shot down. And I said, ‘If you guys are going to fight, I am going to put tariffs on you.’ They were not happy, and within 24 hours, I settled the war. Without tariffs, I wouldn’t have been able to do that,” Trump said.
Trump’s claim of ending India-Pakistan war
Trump has been claiming repeatedly that his intervention stopped the two nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours from going into a war in May this year, though India continues to rule out any third-party intervention in the truce.
In May, India and Pakistan were engaged in days of escalations after India raided alleged terror bases across the border in Operation Sindoor following the Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 people were killed. Trump claims that the conversation for truce with India and Pakistan happened on May 9 and a day later the two announced a ceasefire.
On Wednesday also, Trump was speaking at an event in Miami, Florida where he said his threats of cutting trade is what made New Delhi and Islamabad stop fighting.
At the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in South Korea last week, Trump again claimed that he “threatened India and Pakistan with tariffs” to prevent a potential nuclear war.
India rejects Trump’s claim
However, India has firmly rejected Trump’s version of events. The MEA stated that the ceasefire between India and Pakistan was achieved through established military communication channels between the Director Generals of Military Operations (DGMOs) of both sides.