- US president says he ended eight wars in eight months.
- Trump says he can ‘nicely’ solve Pakistan-Afghanistan conflict.
- Adds saving millions of lives is his greatest achievement.
US President Donald Trump on Sunday said he would “quickly resolve” the Pakistan-Afghanistan conflict, praising Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Asim Munir as “great people.”
Trump made the remarks while addressing the signing ceremony of a Thailand-Cambodia peace deal on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur.
Border crossings between the two countries have remained closed since October 11, following clashes earlier this month that killed dozens on both sides in the worst fighting since the Taliban’s 2021 takeover of Kabul.
The border clashes were triggered after Islamabad demanded that Kabul control militants who attack Pakistan across their shared border, saying they operated from havens in Afghanistan. A ceasefire was agreed in talks hosted by Qatar and Turkiye last weekend and is holding between the two sides.
During the second round of talks in Istanbul, Pakistan has handed over a comprehensive counterterrorism plan to the Afghan Taliban, sources said.
Referring to recent border tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan, Trump said he was confident of helping the two sides reach peace.
“… we’re averaging one a month. There is only one left, although I heard that Pakistan and Afghanistan have started up. But I’ll get that solved very quickly. I know them both. And the Field Marshal, and the Prime Minister are great people, and I have no doubt we’re going to get that done quickly.”
The US president further said he viewed peacebuilding as a priority. “If I can take time and save millions of lives, that’s really a great thing,” he remarked, adding that, unlike other presidents, he focused on ending wars rather than starting them.
“I can’t think of any president who ever solved one war. They start wars. They don’t solve them,” he added.
Meanwhile, the leaders of Thailand and Cambodia signed an enhanced ceasefire deal on Sunday in the presence of Trump, whose intervention in their fierce border conflict earned him a Nobel Peace Prize nomination.
The agreement builds on a truce signed three months ago after Trump called the then-leaders of the two countries, urging them to end hostilities, or risk their respective trade talks with Washington being put on hold.
Both sides blame each other for starting the five-day exchange of rockets and heavy artillery, which killed at least 48 people and temporarily displaced an estimated 300,000 people in their worst fighting in recent history.
