Trump claims he stopped India-Pakistan nuclear war, 7 jets shot down

Trump reiterated his claim of halting a possible nuclear war between India and Pakistan, saying seven fighter jets were shot down before his intervention ended hostilities

US President Donald Trump on Monday claimed that his intervention resulted in the pausing of a possible nuclear war between India and Pakistan, adding that seven fighter jets were shot down during the hostilities between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.

 

Trump made these remarks during a bilateral meeting with the President of the Republic of Korea. He said, “I have stopped all of these wars. A big one would have been India and Pakistan.” 

 

He added that he was proud of preventing multiple conflicts, including one between India and Pakistan. “I stopped seven wars that were raging... including India and Pakistan, which was probably two weeks away from being a nuclear war. They were shooting down airplanes all over the place. I am very proud of that.”

 

 

Trump linked his approach to intervention with conflict prevention and said he employed tariffs and trade measures to prevent wars.

 

Trump’s claim of intervention in the India-Pakistan conflict

 

The US President has, on several occasions, reiterated his claim of intervening and ending the India-Pakistan conflict in May this year after India carried out coordinated missile strikes on terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), under the codename “Operation Sindoor.”

 

What followed were four days of cross-border firing and drone strikes across the border areas of India. On May 10, the two countries reached an understanding to cease all military actions and firing, which, according to Trump, was only possible because of his intervention. 

 

While the Ministry of External Affairs has consistently rejected Trump’s claims of intervening in the conflict, Pakistan’s Army Chief Asim Munir, during his lunch with Trump, thanked the US President for his role in bringing the confrontation to an end.

 

Trump claims seven fighter jets shot down during hostilities

 

In July, Trump claimed that five fighter jets were shot down before the two countries ceased hostilities. This time, he claimed that seven jets were downed, though he did not specify which aircraft were involved or to which side they belonged.

 

Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh had earlier confirmed that India had taken down at least five Pakistani fighter aircraft during Operation Sindoor. “We have at least five fighters confirmed kills and one large aircraft, which could be either an ELINT (Electronic Intelligence) aircraft or an AEW&C (Airborne Early Warning and Control) aircraft, which was taken on at a distance of about 300 kilometres. This is actually the largest ever recorded surface-to-air kill that we can talk about,” he said, according to ANI. 

 

Trump claims tariffs used to stop conflicts

 

During his meeting with the President of the Republic of Korea, Trump said, “Of the seven wars I stopped, four were because I had tariffs and trade, and I was able to say, ‘If you go fight and want to kill everybody, that is okay, but I am going to charge you each a 100 per cent tariff when you trade with us.’ They all gave up.”

 

He added, “We are taking trillions of dollars in tariffs and stopping wars due to tariffs... Other countries did it to us, and now we are doing it to other countries.” 

 

Trump’s remarks on using tariffs and trade to prevent conflicts come days after US Vice President JD Vance defended the nation’s secondary sanctions and additional tariffs on India, calling them part of Washington’s strategy to apply “aggressive economic leverage” against Russia over the war in Ukraine.

 

Washington levied 50 per cent tariffs on India, with the first tranche of 25 per cent taking effect earlier this month. The second tranche of 25 per cent was imposed in response to India’s continued purchase of Russian oil, at a time when Trump has been trying to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.