 "Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Reuters")
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday called US President Donald Trump as “a man of peace” and said his country had nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize for his “outstanding contribution” to promoting peace in South Asia following the conflict with India.
In his address to the General Debate of the 80th UN General Assembly, Sharif referenced India’s ‘Operation Sindoor,’ launched in May in retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 civilians.
Sharif did not note that it was Pakistan’s DGMO who contacted India immediately after New Delhi’s retaliatory strikes on terror targets. India has maintained that the subsequent ceasefire was agreed between the DGMOs of both countries without involvement from other leaders.
Despite advocating for Trump’s recognition, Sharif and Pakistan Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir reportedly waited nearly an hour at the Oval Office.
”Though in a position of strength, Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire facilitated by President Trump’s bold and visionary leadership. We express our deep appreciation to him and his team for their active role in bringing about the ceasefire,” Sharif claimed.
India has been consistently maintaining that the understanding on cessation of hostilities with Pakistan was reached following direct talks between the Directors General of Military Operations of the two militaries.
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More Shorts”In recognition of President Trump’s wonderful and outstanding contribution to promote peace in our part of the world, Pakistan nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize. This is the least we could do … I think he truly is a man of peace,” Sharif said.
He said that Trump’s efforts for peace helped avert a more threatening war in South Asia. “Had he not intervened timely and decisively, the consequences of a full-fledged war would have been catastrophic?” he added.
Since May 10, when Trump announced on social media that India and Pakistan agreed to a “full and immediate” ceasefire after a “long night” of talks mediated by Washington, he has repeated his claim nearly 50 times that he “helped settle” the tensions between India and Pakistan.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made it clear in Parliament that no leader of any country asked India to stop Operation Sindoor.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has categorically said there was no third-party intervention in bringing about a ceasefire with Pakistan during Operation Sindoor.
With inputs from agencies