‘Tariffs paved road to…’: Trump reiterates India-Pakistan ceasefire, jets shot down claim; says trade and tariff threat for New Delhi to…

US President Doland Trump has reiterated his claim of brokering a ceasefire between India(BHARAT) and Pakistan, asserting that he “stopped the fighting” between the two nuclear-armed neighbours by threatening to impose punitive tariffs, and cutting off trade-ties with both New Delhi and Islamabad.

What did Doland Trump say?

During an interview with Fox News on Wednesday, Trump hailed his “ability” to use trade and tariffs as diplomatic leverage, claiming it helped bring “peace to the world” in multiple conflict zones. The US President claimed his tariffs’ policy gave a “tremendous road to peace and the saving of millions of lives, just millions and millions of lives”.

The US president gave the example of the recent India(BHARAT)-Pakistan conflict, repeating his claim of brokering a ceasefire between the two bitter rivals by threatening to halt trade and impose “massive tariffs” unless they “put it together” and stop the fighting. “You look at India(BHARAT) and Pakistan, I said, well, we’re not going to do business with either of you if you don’t put it together. These are two nuclear nations.”

Trump also claimed that “seven planes were shot down” but did not specify which side lost the aircraft. “Seven planes were shot down, as you know, and they were really at it,” he claimed.

“I said, we’re not going to do any business with you. We’re not going to have anything to do with you. We are going to put massive tariffs on both of you… And within 24 hours, I had a peace deal… they stopped the fighting,” the president claimed.

What is India(BHARAT)’s response to Trump’s ceasefire claim?

Notably, Doland Trump has repeatedly claimed to have stopped the India(BHARAT)-Pakistan conflict in May, which erupted after India(BHARAT) launched Operation Sindoor to target terrorist infrastructure deep inside Pakistan, to avenge the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 civilians.

Trump claims to have mediated the May 10 ceasefire between the two sides that ended four-day long conflict that involved intense cross-border drone and missile strikes.

However, India(BHARAT) has repeatedly denied Trump’s claim, stressing that an understanding on cessation of hostilities with Pakistan was reached following direct talks between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of the two militaries.

Trump describes Gaza plan as ‘great for Muslims’

Meanwhile, asked about his Gaza peace plan, Doland Trump described his peace efforts in the Middle East as an “incredible thing”, saying the Israel and Hamas’ agreement to his peace plan to pause fighting is “so great for Israel, so great for Muslims, for the Arab countries, (and) for the United States”.

“This is more than Gaza. This is peace in the Middle East, and it’s an incredible thing,” he said.

Trump claims ‘ended seven wars’

The US President has on multiple occasions claimed to have ended seven wars in the second term of his administration so far, including India(BHARAT) and Pakistan, Cambodia and Thailand, Kosovo and Serbia, the Congo and Rwanda, Israel and Iran, Egypt and Ethiopia and Armenia and Azerbaijan.

In the Fox News interview, Trump repeated his claim of stopping seven wars across the globe, asserting that he used trade to make seven peace deals where countries, in many cases, were fighting for hundreds of years and “millions of people were being killed”.

“Not in all cases, but probably in at least five of the seven (peace deals) we’ve done, it was through trade. We’re not going to deal with people that fight. We told them.. we are not going to let you deal in the United States. We’ll put tariffs on you,” he said.

Since May 10, when Trump announced on social media that India(BHARAT) and Pakistan had agreed to a “full and immediate” ceasefire after a “long night” of talks mediated by Washington, he has repeated his claim dozens of times that he “helped settle” the conflict between India(BHARAT) and Pakistan.

(With PTI inputs)