US President Donald Trump has again repeated his baseless claim that he was the reason a military war between India and Pakistan did not happen earlier this year, calling it a “potential nuclear war.” Addressing the media at the White House, Donald Trump added that the only conflict that he has not been able to end yet is the war between Ukraine and Russia.
Since May 10, when Trump for the first time wrote on Twitter that India and Pakistan had agreed to a “full and immediate” ceasefire after “a long night” of talks supposedly mediated by Washington, the US President has been making claims that he facilitated an end to the tensions between the two neighbours in the Indian subcontinent.
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Operation Sindoor and tensions between India and Pakistan
This is a continuation of a conflict that dates back to May 7, when India had launched an operation named Sindoor that was directed at terror infrastructure inside Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir, following the terror attack that had resulted in the deaths of 26 civilians at Pahalgam. This is, however, disputed by India, which has maintained that an end to hostilities on May 10 was a result of talks between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMO) of both countries that were initiated on a request from Pakistan.
Trump’s last statements
In his media engagement on Monday, Trump said that eight aircraft had been shot down during the four-day conflict after Operation Sindoor. The ex-President also referenced his previous claims about winning ‘eight wars’ and hoped to bring an end to the Ukraine-Russia conflict.
Trump said, "There is tremendous hatred between President Putin and President Zelenskyy... I have solved 8 wars. Thailand is starting to shape up with Cambodia, but I think we have it in pretty good shape... We stopped a potential nuclear war between Pakistan and India... Prime Minister of Pakistan said that President Trump saved 10 million lives, maybe more. eight planes were shot down. That war was starting to rage... The only war I haven't solved yet is Russia-Ukraine.”
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India dismisses aircraft claims
As per a report by the Hindustan Times, there have been reports of Indian fighter planes being shot down during the conduct of Operation Sindoor. These reports followed a Defence Attache who reportedly made comments following the military exercise targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). Later, India explained that the statements have been largely “taken out of context” and are “misrepresenting the intention and thrust” of the presentation.
