For the second time in one week, former US President Donald Trump claimed that he personally helped stop a major conflict between India and Pakistan following Operation Sindoor, which New Delhi launched in response to a terror attack in Pahalgam.
“We have stopped a lot of wars. And these were serious wars. India and Pakistan were going at it, and they were back and forth, and it was getting bigger and bigger, and we got it solved through trade,” Trump said.
Trump repeated that the United States pushed for peace by using trade as a bargaining tool. He said Washington warned both sides that trade deals would not go through if cross-border firing continued. While Pakistan welcomed Trump's role, India has repeatedly rejected the idea that the US had anything to do with stopping the hostilities.
Trump also made another dramatic claim about the brief military exchange. “In fact, planes were being shot out of the air. Five, five, four or five, but I think five jets were shot down actually,” he said.
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However, India's External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar dismissed Trump's statements, saying the US played no role in ending the military escalation between the two nuclear-armed nations.
Speaking to Newsweek, Jaishankar shared specific details about the situation. “I can tell you that I was in the room when Vice President Vance spoke to Prime Minister Modi on the night of May 9, saying that the Pakistanis would launch a very massive assault on India…We did not accept certain things, and the Prime Minister was impervious to what the Pakistanis were threatening to do,” he explained.
Jaishankar also made it clear that India stood firm despite threats from Pakistan. “On the contrary, he (PM Modi) indicated that there would be a response from us,” he said.
According to Jaishankar, the next conversation with the US government happened the following morning. During this call, he spoke with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who said that Pakistan was now ready to hold talks. This message, however, came after India had already decided to respond militarily to any threats.
