US President Donald Trump has once again claimed that he “ended” the India-Pakistan crisis following Operation Sindoor — a statement India has repeatedly dismissed as inaccurate.
Speaking at an event on Monday, President Trump asserted that his trade policies and tariffs prevented multiple global wars, including one between India and Pakistan. “We’re a rich country again, we’re a powerful country because, you know, I’ve ended seven wars — at least half of them were because of my ability at trade and because of tariffs,” Trump said.
He added, “If I didn’t have the power of tariffs, you would have at least four of the seven wars raging… If you look at India and Pakistan, they were ready to go at it. Seven planes were shot down… I don’t want to say exactly what I said, but what I said was very effective. Not only did we make hundreds of billions of dollars, but we’re a peacekeeper because of tariffs.”
The president’s remarks come despite India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) having rejected his mediation claims several times in the past.
During the same event, Trump also mentioned Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s upcoming visit to the US, suggesting it would focus on trade discussions. “I think he’s coming probably to talk about tariffs, because a lot of companies are leaving Canada to come into the US… Nobody’s actually seen anything like it,” he said.
This is not the first time Trump has made such assertions.
Since May 10, when Trump announced on social media that India and Pakistan had agreed to a “full and immediate” ceasefire after a “long night” of Washington-mediated talks, he has repeatedly asserted that he “helped settle” tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.
In August, Trump claimed that his tough stance on trade forced both countries to step back from conflict. “I said, ‘I don’t want to make a trade deal with you… You guys are going to end up in a nuclear war.’ I said, ‘Call me back tomorrow, but we’re not going to do any deals with you, or we’re going to put tariffs on you that are so high, your head’s going to spin,’” the former president said, recalling a conversation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
According to President Trump, the two nations reached a peace deal “within five hours” of his discussions with PM Modi.
However, India has firmly rejected Trump’s version of events. Officials clarified that the understanding on the cessation of hostilities was reached through a direct military channel — after Pakistan’s Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) reached out to his Indian counterpart, without any external mediation.
Trump went on to list other conflicts he claimed to have resolved, including those in Armenia and Azerbaijan, Kosovo and Serbia, Israel and Iran, Egypt and Ethiopia, and Rwanda and the Congo. “Just look at that… We stopped all of them. And 60 per cent of them were stopped because of trade,” he said.
