New York, Nov 6: US President Donald Trump has once again reiterated that India and Pakistan “made peace” in May after he threatened to terminate trade deals with both nations if they continued their military conflict a claim he has repeated multiple times since.
Speaking at the America Business Forum in Miami, Florida, on Wednesday, Trump said that eight aircraft were shot down during the clashes between the two nuclear armed neighbours, without clarifying which side they belonged to. Previously, he had maintained that seven aircraft were downed.
“In the middle of trade negotiations with both India and Pakistan, I heard they were going to war. Eight planes were shot down essentially, it was war,” Trump told the audience. “I said, ‘I’m not making any trade deals unless you agree to peace.’ A day later, I get a call saying, ‘We made peace.’ They stopped. Tariffs did that,” he claimed, drawing applause from attendees.
Since May 10, when Trump announced via social media that India and Pakistan had agreed to a “full and immediate ceasefire” after overnight talks mediated by Washington, he has repeated more than 60 times that his intervention helped defuse tensions.
However, India has consistently denied any third-party mediation, reiterating that all matters between New Delhi and Islamabad are strictly bilateral.
India’s Operation Sindoor, launched on May 7, targeted terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the April 22 Pahalgam attack, which killed 26 civilians. The conflict lasted four days, ending in a ceasefire agreement on May 10.
During his Miami address, Trump further claimed that he had “ended eight wars” across the world, including those between Kosovo and Serbia, Congo and Rwanda, Israel and Iran, and Armenia and Azerbaijan, adding that “America is making peace through strength.”
He also referenced recent trade agreements with China, Japan, and Malaysia, calling them “great economic deals” beneficial for all parties.