 "US President Donald Trump has ruled out the possibility of trade talks with India amid the ongoing tariff dispute. File image/AP")
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday once again claimed credit for defusing tensions between India and Pakistan during their military confrontation in May, saying his intervention stopped the two countries from sliding into war. This time, he went a step further, adding that he had spoken with the “very terrific man” Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Speaking at a cabinet meeting, Trump recalled how he “averted a world war” during the early days of the Ukraine-Russia conflict, before turning to the India-Pakistan standoff.
‘I am talking to…’
Seated next to Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, Trump said, “I am talking to a very terrific man, Narendra Modi. I said ‘what’s going on with you and Pakistan’. The hatred was tremendous. This has been going on for a hell of a long time, like, sometimes with different names for hundreds of years.”
He went on saying, “I said, I don’t want to make a trade deal with you… You guys are going to end up in a nuclear war… I said, call me back tomorrow. But we’re not going to do any deals with you, or we’re going to put tariffs on you that are so high, your head’s going to spin.”
Trump’s comments came just hours before new tariff measures on India were set to take effect on August 27, raising the overall tariff burden on Indian goods to nearly 50 per cent.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsOnly a day earlier, Trump had also claimed responsibility for the May ceasefire, saying “seven jets were shot down”—a different figure from his earlier claim of “five planes.” He did not clarify which country’s aircraft were destroyed.
Jaishankar’s earlier statement in Parliament
Earlier, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, speaking in the Lok Sabha during the debate on Operation Sindoor, dismissed reports of any phone conversation between Prime Minister Modi and President Trump during the military standoff.
“There was no call between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump between April 22 and June 17,” Jaishankar said, ending speculation that international pressure had influenced India’s actions during Operation Sindoor.
Operation Sindoor and aftermath
India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7 in retaliation for the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, which killed 26 people, most of them civilians.
The operation led to a short but fierce four-day conflict with Pakistan, during which Islamabad attempted drone and missile strikes on Indian targets but failed.
While Trump has repeatedly claimed that he played a role in brokering peace, India has consistently rejected such assertions. New Delhi maintains that the May 10 ceasefire came after Pakistan’s Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) reached out to his Indian counterpart. Officials stressed that the agreement was bilateral, unconditional, and without third-party involvement.