WASHINGTON: Former US President Donald Trump has once again claimed that he played a key role in halting a potential armed conflict between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan earlier this year, attributing his intervention and the use of trade tariffs as the decisive factor.
Speaking to reporters, Trump said, “If I didn’t have the power of tariffs, you would have at least four of the seven wars raging. I use tariffs to stop wars. If you look at India and Pakistan — they were ready to go at it. Seven planes were shot down. They were ready to go at it. And then, nuclear powers. I don’t want to say exactly what I said, but what I said was very effective. They stopped. And that was based on tariffs.”
He went on to describe tariffs as a tool not only for economic benefit but also for maintaining global peace. “Tariffs are very important for the United States. We are a peacekeeper because of tariffs. Not only do we make hundreds of billions of dollars, but we’re a peacekeeper because of tariffs,” Trump added.
This isn’t the first time Trump has made such a claim. At a private dinner with Republican lawmakers at the White House last month, he asserted that his administration had prevented several conflicts, including between India and Pakistan.
“We stopped a lot of wars. And these were serious — India and Pakistan, that was going on. These are two serious nuclear countries, and they were hitting each other. It seems like a new form of warfare,” he said, adding, “Planes were being shot out of the air — five, maybe more — but I think five jets were shot down, actually.”
However, India has consistently maintained that the understanding to cease hostilities with Pakistan was reached through direct communication between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMO) of the two countries — without any external mediation.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also stated in Parliament that no foreign leader requested India to halt Operation Sindoor, the counter-terror offensive launched after the April 22 terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Anantnag district, which claimed 26 lives.
In response to the attack, India initiated Operation Sindoor on May 7, with the Indian Air Force (IAF) striking nine major terror hubs inside Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). Pakistan’s subsequent attempts to retaliate using drones and missiles were neutralised by Indian air defence systems.
As tensions escalated, the IAF conducted precision strikes on 11 Pakistani airbases, including key sites in Nur Khan and Rahim Yar Khan. While no structural damage or casualties were reported in India, the Indian military released evidence of the impact of its cross-border operations.
The IAF’s advanced air defence network was instrumental in protecting Indian airspace, intercepting multiple UAVs and drone incursions during the heightened standoff.
