US President Donald Trump on Wednesday reiterated his claim that he averted a war between India and Pakistan by leveraging trade pressure on both nations.
Even as he praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the "nicest looking guy" and "tough as hell," Trump claimed that India adhered to the pressure and stopped the war within two days after the US president called and spoke to the PM.
"Prime Minister Modi is the nicest-looking guy. He’s a killer. He’s tough as hell. No, we will fight. I said, Whoa, this is the same man that I know," Trump said while speaking at the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) CEO Summit in Gyeongju, South Korea.
The US President also briefly referred to the ongoing trade negotiations with India, emphasising that both countries share "a great relationship."
"I’m doing a trade deal with India, and I have great respect and love for Prime Minister Modi. We have a great relationship," he said.
Trump also praised Pakistan's Field Marshal Asim Munir, calling him a "great fighter."
"...the Prime Minister of Pakistan is a great guy. They have a Field Marshal. You know why he’s a Field Marshal? He’s a great fighter. And so I know them all," he said.
Repeating his claim that he stopped a war between the two arch-enemies, Trump said, "These are two nuclear nations. And they’re really going at it. And I called Prime Minister Modi and said, we can’t make a trade deal with you. ‘No, no, we must make a trade deal’ (implying PM Modi). I said, no, we can’t. You’re starting a war with Pakistan. We’re not going to do it. And then I called Pakistan and said, we’re not going to do trade with you because you’re fighting with India. They said, ‘no, no, you should let us fight’. They both said that. They’re strong people."
Trump claimed that the leaders of both India and Pakistan called him after two days and stopped fighting.
"After literally two days, they called up, they said, we understand, and they stopped fighting. How is that? Isn't that amazing? Now, you think Biden would have done that?" Trump said.
However, hours earlier in Tokyo, Trump had said that he managed to get the war stopped in 24 hours.
While speaking at a reception and dinner with business leaders in Tokyo on Tuesday, Trump said that "seven brand new" planes were shot down during the India-Pakistan conflict without specifying to which country they belonged.
"Seven planes were shot down, seven brand new, beautiful planes were shot down, and they were going at it... two big nuclear powers," he said.
The US President reiterated that he used trade to resolve the war between India and Pakistan.
"I said to Prime Minister Modi, and I said to the prime minister, a very nice man, a very good man, and the Field Marshal over in Pakistan, I said, Look, we're not going to do any trade if you're going to be fighting," Trump said.
Trump said that India and Pakistan argued that war has nothing to do with trade with the US.
"(They said) one thing has nothing to do with the other. I said this, it has a lot to do with the other -- two nuclear powers -- we get that nuclear dust all over the place. All of you are affected, right? And we said, No, we're not doing any deals if you're going to fight. And within about 24 hours, that was the end of that. It was amazing, actually," the US President said.
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 talks mediated by Washington, he has repeated his claim dozens of times that he "helped settle" the conflict between India and Pakistan.
India has consistently maintained that the understanding on cessation of hostilities with Pakistan was reached following direct talks between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of the two militaries.
India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the April 22 Pahalgam attack that killed 26 civilians.
India and Pakistan reached an understanding on May 10 to end the conflict after four days of intense cross-border drone and missile strikes.
(With inputs from PTI)
