United States President Donald Trump on Friday reiterated his long-standing claim that he helped prevent a full-scale war between India and Pakistan, asserting that Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif personally thanked him during a recent visit to Washington for averting a catastrophic conflict.
Trump made the remarks while speaking to reporters at the White House, where he was meeting senior executives from the oil and gas sector. Responding to questions, the US president said Sharif had publicly credited him with saving millions of lives by defusing tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.
Trump Recounts Sharif’s Remarks
“The prime minister of Pakistan came here, and he made a very public statement,” Trump said. “He said that President Trump saved minimum ten million lives having to do with Pakistan and India, and that was going to be raging.”
Trump also used the occasion to revive his argument that he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize, insisting that his record of resolving conflicts sets him apart from any other world leader in history.
Nobel Peace Prize Remarks Resurface
While saying he did not want to appear boastful, Trump claimed he had played a decisive role in settling multiple long-running conflicts. “Whether people like Trump or don’t like Trump, I settled eight wars, big ones,” he said, referring to disputes that he claimed had lasted for decades. He again cited India and Pakistan, alleging that the situation had escalated to aerial combat before he intervened.
“Some were just getting ready to start, like India and Pakistan, where eight jets were shot out in the air, and I got it done in rapid order without nuclear weapons,” Trump said. “I can’t think of anybody in history who should get the Nobel Prize more than me. But I don’t care about that; I care about saving lives. I’ve saved tens of millions of lives.”
Trump has made similar assertions repeatedly since May last year, arguing that US pressure under his leadership forced both countries to step back from the brink of war.
India Rejects Trump’s Claim
India, however, has firmly rejected any suggestion of third-party mediation. New Delhi has consistently maintained that the de-escalation was the result of direct engagement between the two sides, following India’s launch of Operation Sindoor against terror infrastructure in Pakistan.
The military action came in response to the Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir in April 2025, which left 26 people dead. Indian officials have said the subsequent ceasefire was initiated after Pakistan’s Director General of Military Operations contacted his Indian counterpart on May 10 to seek an end to hostilities, after which both sides agreed to halt military action.
