Donald Trump again claims credit for peace between India, Pakistan

''There were conversations between Indian and US leaders on the evolving military situation. The issue of trade did not come up in any of these conversations,'' said Jaiswal .

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday once again claimed credit for defusing tensions between India and Pakistan, asserting that the United States played a key role in brokering a military truce between the two neighbours. He made the remarks while speaking at the US-Saudi Investment Forum in Riyadh.

 

At the US-Saudi Investment Forum, US President Trump said: “...My greatest hope is to be a peacemaker and to be a unifier. I do not like war... Just days ago, my administration successfully brokered a historic ceasefire to stop the escalating violence between India and Pakistan. I used trade to a large extent. I said, let’s make a deal, let’s do some trading. Let’s not trade nuclear missiles, let’s trade the things you make so beautifully...Maybe we can even get them together to go out and have a nice dinner.”  However, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, ''From the time Operation Sindoor commenced on 7th May till the understanding on cessation of firing and military action on 10th May, there were conversations between Indian and US leaders on the evolving military situation. The issue of trade did not come up in any of these conversations.'' 

 

#WATCH | At the US-Saudi Investment Forum, US President Trump says "...My greatest hope is to be a peacemaker and to be a unifier. I do not like war...Just days ago, my administration successfully brokered a historic ceasefire to stop the escalating violence between India and… pic.twitter.com/2FbueqhAys

— ANI (@ANI) May 13, 2025

During the summit Trump also mentioned his peacemaking track record, ''As I said in my inaugural address, my greatest hope is to be a peacemaker and to be a unifier. I don't like war. We have the greatest military, by the way, in the history of the world. I rebuilt our military in my first four years and rebuilt it into the most powerful military there is. And you saw that when I knocked out ISIS in three weeks. People said it would take four years, five years. I did it. We did it in three weeks.'' said Trump. 

On Tuesday, India said that the military action from its side was entirely in the conventional domain, and rejected any speculation of a threat of nuclear conflict outbreak, including an assertion to this effect by US President Donald Trump. 

 

India also clarified that the “issue of trade did not come up” in any of its discussions with US leaders on the evolving military situation — from the start of Operation Sindoor on May 7 till an understanding was reached on cessation of firing and military action on May 10.

 

India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, 2025, as a direct response to the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22, which claimed 26 lives. The operation was a coordinated effort by the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force, targeting nine terror camps associated with groups like Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba in Pakistan.

 

Notably, Abdul Rauf Azhar, a senior Jaish-e-Mohammed leader linked to the 1999 IC-814 hijacking, was killed during these strikes. The precision strikes, conducted between 1:05 am and 1:30 am, aimed to dismantle terrorist infrastructure while minimising civilian casualties. 

On May 11, Air Marshal A K Bharti had said that India’s air defence systems successfully thwarted a wave of drones, UAVs and UCAVs launched by Pakistan on the night of May 8 and 9. “It was a coordinated mass raid conducted in relentless waves. However, due to our robust air defence preparedness, no damage occurred — neither to strategic targets nor to civilian areas,” he had said. 

Addressing the press on May 11, Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai said that nine terror targets were identified after careful deliberation under Operation Sindoor, "More than 100 terrorists killed in nine terror targets on early May 7 operation," he said.