- Trump once again takes credit for ending Pak-Ind war.
- US president says he warned Pakistan, India of tariffs.
- Trump claims the arch-rivals were going to go nuclear.
US President Donald Trump has now claimed that as many as 10 fighter jets were shot down during the Pakistan and India conflict, doubling his initial figure.
“I settled eight wars. Of the eight wars, at least six were settled because of tariffs,” Trump said on Fox Business, during a discussion about the effectiveness of his tariff policy.
Expanding further, he said: “In other words, I said if you don’t settle this war I’m going to charge you tariffs, because I don’t want to see people getting killed. And they said, ‘Well, what does this have to do…’ I said, ‘You’re going to be charged.’”
“Like India and Pakistan — it would have been a nuclear war in my opinion. They were really going at it. Ten planes were shot down. They were going at it.”
He recalled that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had mentioned that President Trump saved at least 10 million lives when he got us to stop fighting, “because he — they were going to go nuclear in my opinion. Without tariffs, that would not have happened”.
While Trump has credited himself — and by Pakistan — for stopping the war, India has not acknowledged the US president’s role. In contrast, the Pakistani government also nominated the American commander-in-chief for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Last year in May, Pakistan and India engaged in a military showdown, the worst between the old foes in decades, which was sparked by a terrorist attack on tourists in IIOJK’s Pahalgam area, which New Delhi alleged was backed by Pakistan.
Islamabad denied involvement in the Pahalgam attack, which killed 26 men and offered to participate in a neutral probe into the deadly incident.
During the clashes, Pakistan downed several Indian fighter jets, including three Rafale, and dozens of drones. After at least 87 hours, the war between the two nuclear-armed nations ended on May 10 with a ceasefire agreement brokered by the US.
