‘We did some great work’: Donald Trump again claims he brokered India-Pakistan peace; cites trade pressure as tool
US President Donald Trump has once again claimed credit for averting a full-scale war between India and Pakistan, saying he warned both countries of halting all trade ties, which led to the cessation of hostilities. Speaking to reporters at the White House on Friday, Trump asserted, “We did some great work. India and Pakistan. That was going to be maybe nuclear. We did that.”He said he ordered his top officials to cancel all trade deals with both Delhi and Islamabad when the two nuclear-armed neighbours were “amidst a big fight”.“Serbia, Kosovo is going to go at it, going to be a big war. I said, ‘you go at it, there’s no trade with the United States.… That’s what happened with India and Pakistan. I was negotiating with both of them and I said to (treasury secretary) Scott (Bessent), I said to (commerce secretary) Howard (Lutnick), cancel all deals with India and Pakistan. They’re not trading with us because they’re in a war,” Trump said.Trump said the two countries “called back. ‘What do we do?’ I said, ‘Look, you want to have trade with the United States. It’s great, but you want to go and start using nuclear weapons on each other. We’re not going to allow that.’ And they both agreed, both have great leaders. They both agreed not to do it. So so we did a lot,” Trump said.Later, Trump also repeated this narrative during the signing of a peace deal between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, claiming credit for “peace between India and Pakistan, Israel and Iran, and DRC and Rwanda.”He told the press, “We have two great leaders… they were able to stop. I guess everybody saw that it was going to get very bad.”However, India has consistently maintained that the de-escalation with Pakistan was the result of direct talks between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs). Prime Minister Narendra Modi had firmly conveyed during a phone call with Trump last week that India does not accept mediation and that the initiative came from Pakistan.The India-Pakistan ceasefire was reached on May 10, following four days of intense cross-border missile and drone attacks. While Trump has repeatedly asserted his diplomatic role, India’s official stance has been that the ceasefire involved a bilateral military understanding without any third-party involvement.Meanwhile, Trump had also hinted at the possibility of a major trade breakthrough with India. “I think we’re going to reach a deal where we have the right to go in and trade,” he said. The US has been pushing for market access in areas like electric vehicles, wine, and dairy, while India seeks tariff concessions on garments, seafood, and gems.As negotiations continue, a top Indian trade delegation led by special secretary Rajesh Agrawal is currently in Washington to try and conclude an interim pact before the July 9 deadline. The US had earlier suspended high tariffs on Indian goods until that date, and both sides are reportedly working on a first tranche of the broader trade pact that could be finalised later this year.
