US President Donald Trump has once again asserted that he played a key role in ending India and Pakistan conflict earlier this year, claiming credit for brokering peace through trade negotiations and insisting he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize for “stopping seven wars.”
Speaking at the American Cornerstone Institute Founder’s Dinner on Saturday, Trump repeated his claim that Washington mediated the May ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan following days of cross-border strikes. “On the world stage, we are once again doing things that we are just respected at a level that we have never been respected before. We are forging peace agreements, and we are stopping wars. So we stopped wars between India and Pakistan, Thailand and Cambodia,” Trump said.
He added: “Think of India and Pakistan. Think of that. And you know how I stopped that — with trade. They want to trade. And I have great respect for both leaders. But when you take a look at all of these wars that we’ve stopped… India, Pakistan, Thailand, Cambodia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kosovo and Serbia, Israel and Iran, Egypt and Ethiopia, Rwanda and the Congo. We stopped all of them. And 60 per cent of them were stopped because of trade.”
According to Trump, he told Indian and Pakistani leaders: “Look, we’re not going to do any trade if you’re going to fight and they have nuclear weapons. They stopped.”
India Denies Trump’s Role In Mediation
Since May 10, when Trump first posted on social media that India and Pakistan had agreed to a “full and immediate” ceasefire after what he described as a “long night” of talks facilitated by Washington, he has repeated the claim more than 40 times.
However, India has consistently denied any third-party role. New Delhi maintains that the understanding to halt hostilities was reached directly between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of the two countries after four days of exchanges.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi clarified in Parliament that no foreign leader asked India to halt Operation Sindoor, the retaliatory strikes against terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir following the April 22 Pahalgam attack that killed 26 civilians.
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has also categorically stated that “there was no third-party intervention in bringing about a ceasefire with Pakistan during Operation Sindoor.”
Trump’s Nobel Prize Pitch
However, Trump has continued to make the same claim constantly. Expanding on his assertions, the US President has now began to argue that his diplomatic role in multiple global conflicts qualifies him for recognition. “I said, ‘Well, what about the seven others? I should get a Nobel Prize for each one.’ So they said, ‘but if you stop Russia and Ukraine, sir, you should be able to get the Nobel.’ I said I stopped seven wars. That’s one war, and that’s a big one,” Trump said.
On Russia and Ukraine, he remarked that he expected that conflict to be easier to resolve, citing his personal rapport with Vladimir Putin. “I thought that would be the easiest one, but we’ll get it done one way or the other,” he added.
While Trump continues to highlight his “peace through trade” approach as a hallmark of his foreign policy, India’s repeated denials underline a sharp disagreement between Washington’s version of events and New Delhi’s official stance.
(With inputs from news agency PTI)
