Former US President Donald Trump claimed that his administration prevented a possible nuclear war between India and Pakistan by threatening to stop trade with both countries if they didn’t end their conflict. Trump made the comments during a press briefing at the White House on Monday.
He said he told both sides that the US would do a lot of trade with them only if they stopped the conflict. “If you don’t stop it, we’re not going to do any trade,” Trump said. He claimed that soon after this, India and Pakistan agreed to stop hostilities.
However, Indian government sources denied this claim. They said that at no point during the discussions with the US was trade ever mentioned. According to the sources, the US made four official calls to the Indian leadership after the start of Operation Sindoor.
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US Vice President JD Vance spoke with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 9.
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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on May 8 and May 10.
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Rubio also spoke to National Security Adviser Ajit Doval on May 10.
“There was no reference to trade in any of these conversations,” Indian officials stated.
Trump also said that the ceasefire between India and Pakistan was “permanent” and credited his administration for helping to achieve it. He described the situation as dangerous, with both countries being nuclear powers. He said the conflict seemed to be escalating but his efforts helped bring it to a stop.
Trump praised both India and Pakistan for showing wisdom and strength in understanding the seriousness of the situation. He also thanked Vance and Rubio for playing key roles in the effort.
Indian officials have not officially responded to Trump’s comments, but the strong denial of trade being used as a tool shows that there is disagreement with Trump’s version of events.
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