On Sunday (local time), US President Donald Trump reiterated his assertion that he used the threat of high tariffs to prevent a possible conflict between India and Pakistan, claiming that "seven planes were shot down" during the May spike in tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbors.
In an interview with Fox News, Trump claimed that his administration defused the situation which he characterized as being on the verge of a nuclear war by applying trade pressure.
"You know, I've put an end to the eight wars we just discussed. Due to tariffs, five of them have been discontinued. For instance, the prospect of tariffs prevented India and Pakistan, two nuclear armed countries, from waging war," Trump claimed.
Seven planes were shot down while they were fighting. That's quite a bit. They were also engaged in combat."It might have been a nuclear conflict," he continued.
The escalation in May after India's Operation Sindoor, a series of precision strikes on nine terrorist camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) in retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22 that claimed 26 civilian lives, is referenced in Trump's remarks regarding the India-Pakistan conflict.
The US president also asserted that a de-escalation resulted from his direct participation, which included the threat of slapping 200 percent tariffs.
"I basically told India and Pakistan the same thing: 'Look, I'm not going to do business with you if you're going to fight each other. We intend to impose a tariff of 200 percent. It will prevent you from conducting business," he stated.
The claims Trump made indicate that both nations immediately retreated. "They said, 'No, no, no. And I ended the conflict after a day. "I used trade to settle it," he claimed.
Trump had been restating his assertions that he was instrumental in defusing tensions between India and Pakistan, citing trade and tariffs as key factors in the US's efforts to avert the wars.
Reiterating its long-standing stance that all disputes with Pakistan, particularly those pertaining to Jammu and Kashmir, should be settled bilaterally between the two nations, India has continuously denied the assertions made by the US President.
