US President Donald Trump has once again repeated his controversial claim that he helped prevent a “potential nuclear war” between India and Pakistan earlier this year, a statement that New Delhi has consistently rejected. Speaking to reporters at the White House on Monday, Trump said stopping the India-Pakistan conflict was among the “eight wars” he has solved so far, adding that the only unresolved conflict in his view remains the Russia-Ukraine war.
Trump’s remarks relate to the military tensions that followed India’s Operation Sindoor, launched on May 7 in response to the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 civilians. Indian forces targeted terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, leading to four days of heightened hostilities between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.
On May 10, Trump had announced on social media that India and Pakistan had agreed to a “full and immediate” ceasefire after talks allegedly mediated by Washington. Since then, he has repeated more than 60 times that he played a key role in settling the crisis. However, the Indian government has firmly denied any foreign mediation, maintaining that the cessation of hostilities was agreed upon after direct talks between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMO) of both countries, initiated at Pakistan’s request.
During his latest comments, Trump also claimed that eight aircraft were shot down during the conflict, a statement that has added to the controversy. India has rejected such claims, clarifying that remarks attributed to a defence attaché abroad were taken out of context and misrepresented.
Trump further said there was “tremendous hatred” between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, expressing hope that he would eventually be able to end that war as well.
While Trump continues to project himself as a global peacemaker, India has remained clear and consistent in its position: the May ceasefire with Pakistan was a bilateral military understanding, reached without any third-party involvement.
