US President Donald Trump has said he “loves” Prime Minister Narendra Modi and described him as a strong and admirable leader, even as he once again repeated his baseless claim that he personally brokered a ceasefire between India and Pakistan in May.Speaking at a luncheon for APEC CEOs, Trump recounted his version of events from earlier this year, claiming he stopped a “war” between the two nuclear-armed neighbours through the use of trade pressure. “Prime Minister Modi he’s a great-looking guy. But he’s a killer — tough as hell. He said, ‘No, we will fight.’ I said, ‘Whoa, this is the same man I know?,’ he said.
“If you look at India and Pakistan — I was doing a trade deal with India, and I have great respect and love for Prime Minister Modi. They were really going at it,” Trump added.He went on to say that he told both PM Modi and Pakistan’s leadership that the US would not do business with either country while they were fighting. “I told Prime Minister Modi, ‘We can’t make a deal with you right now because you’re fighting with Pakistan.’ Then I called the Pakistani Prime Minister and told him we can’t make a deal with you because you are fighting India,” Trump said. According to Trump, both countries agreed to end hostilities within 48 hours after he threatened to impose “250% tariffs,” claiming that “seven planes had been shot down” and that his intervention “saved millions and millions of lives.”The 47th POTUS has repeated this claim multiple times since May, when he announced 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 mediated by Washington.India, however, has consistently denied any US role, maintaining that the decision to cease hostilities was reached at the request of the Pakistani DGMO to his counterpart. Officials said the understanding was finalised on May 10 following four days of cross-border exchanges that began after India’s Operation Sindoor, launched in response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 civilians.Trump’s comments came as he continued his Asia tour, arriving in South Korea ahead of his scheduled meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the APEC summit in Gyeongju.