Trump delivers another sharp dig at India’s Modi-led govt

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday delivered another sharp dig at India’s Modi-led government, highlighting the loss of seven aircraft in May’s clash with Pakistan as a major embarrassment.

He also boasted of his role in brokering the ceasefire, claiming he single-handedly averted a potential nuclear confrontation.

While addressing a dinner with business leaders in Japan, Trump said many of the wars he halted were due to the tariffs he imposed on multiple countries, claiming he did “a great service to the world”.

“If you look at India and Pakistan, they were going at it,” he said. “Seven brand-new, beautiful planes were shot down.

“I said to [Indian] Prime Minister Modi and I said to the Prime Minister [Shehbaz Sharif], very nice man, a very good man and the Field Marshal [Asim Munir] over in Pakistan … I said, ‘look we’re not going to do any trade if you’re going to be fighting’,” Trump said.

“We said ‘no, we’re not doing any deals if you’re going to fight’ and within 24 hours that was the end of that. It was amazing, actually,” he added. “I think trade is responsible for 70 per cent of the fact that we didn’t have wars.”

Speaking during a Diwali celebration at White House on October 22, Trump said he had told Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi that there should be no war with Pakistan, stressing that he had helped avert several conflicts through diplomacy and trade pressure.

Trump added that they also discussed avoiding conflict, saying, “Although we did talk a little while ago about let's have no wars with Pakistan.” He noted the role of commerce in easing tensions: “The fact that trade was involved, I was able to talk about that.”

The US president emphasised the outcome, saying, “And we have no war with Pakistan and India. That was a very, very good thing.” He concluded by praising Modi personally: “He's a great person, and he's become a great friend of mine over the years.”

The US president claimed he had prevented eight wars so far through what he described as “deals and trade,” including one between Pakistan and India.

Trump has previously taken credit on several occasions for helping defuse tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours, who have fought three wars since independence and remain at odds over the disputed territory of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).

In May, Pakistan and Indian engaged in a military showdown, the worst between the old foes in decades, which was sparked by a terrorist attack on tourists in IIOJK's Pahalgam area, which New Delhi said was backed by Pakistan.

Islamabad denied involvement in the Kashmir attack, which killed 26 men and was the worst assault on civilians in India since the Mumbai attacks in 2008.

After the incident, India killed several innocent civilians in unprovoked attacks on Pakistan for three days before the Pakistan Armed Forces retaliated in defence with the successful Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos.

Pakistan downed six IAF fighter jets, including three Rafale, and dozens of drones. After at least 87 hours, the war between the two nuclear-armed nations ended on May 10 with a ceasefire agreement brokered by the US.