“India and Pakistan are going to live very nicely together,” says Trump at Gaza Peace Summit

Sharm El-Sheikh [Egypt], October 14 (ANI): US President Donald Trump, while addressing the Gaza Peace Summit in Egypt on Monday, expressed optimism that India and Pakistan “are going to live very nicely together," as he spoke about regional peace and cooperation.

Highlighting his rapport with India’s leadership, Trump said, “India is a great country with a very good friend of mine at the top and he has done a fantastic job. I think that Pakistan and India are going to live very nicely together," while addressing global leaders during the summit.

His remarks came against the backdrop of heightened tensions between the two neighbours earlier this year.

Twenty-six tourists, including 25 Indian nationals and one Nepalese citizen, were killed in the Pahalgam terror attack by Pakistan-backed terrorists on April 22.

In response, the Indian Armed Forces launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting terror camps operated by Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) through precision strikes. India also repelled subsequent Pakistani escalation and pounded its airbases.

Trump’s remarks at the summit followed his statement a day earlier aboard Air Force One, where he said he had used tariffs as a tool to resolve several international conflicts, including tensions between India and Pakistan.

“…I settled a few of the wars just based on tariffs. For example, between India and Pakistan, I said, if you guys want to fight a war and you have nuclear weapons. I am going to put big tariffs on you both, like 100 per cent, 150 per cent, and 200 per cent…" Trump said.

The President added that his threat to impose steep tariffs on both countries had brought the situation under control swiftly. “I said I am putting tariffs. I had that thing settled in 24 hours. If I didn’t have tariffs, you could have never settled that war," he said.

Trump reiterated his claims of brokering peace between India and Pakistan during the conflict in May, which he said was resolved through his intervention.

He made similar remarks during an interview with Fox News on October 9, linking the resolution of the conflict to his tariff strategy.

While responding to a question on how he brought countries to the talking table, Trump had said, “Having the ability to use tariffs have brought peace to the world… You know I made seven peace deals."

Expanding on his claim, he said, “Not in all cases but probably at least five of the seven we’ve done so far were by trade, that we are not going to deal with people who fight and we’re going to put tariffs on you."

Citing India and Pakistan as an example, Trump said, “You look at India and Pakistan, I said well we are not going to do business with either of you if you don’t put it together. These are two nuclear nations. Seven planes were shot down as you know and they were really at it… I said we are not going to do any business with you, we are going to put massive tariffs on you and in both cases they said, well we’re going to start talking about it. There is tremendous amounts of money and power that we are dealing with and within 24 hours I had a peace deal that they stopped the fighting."

Trump has repeatedly made similar claims of mediating peace between India and Pakistan, asserting that his administration’s trade pressure brought stability between the two countries following heightened tensions earlier this year.

On September 21, Trump said at the American Cornerstone Institute Founder’s Dinner that he should be honoured with the Nobel Peace Prize for “ending seven wars."

“We are forging peace agreements, and we are stopping wars. So we stopped wars between India and Pakistan, Thailand and Cambodia," he said.

“Think of India and Pakistan. Think of that. And you know how I stopped that — with trade. They want to trade. And I have great respect for both leaders. But when you take a look at all of these wars that we’ve stopped," he added.

However, India has consistently refuted the claims made by the US President, reiterating its long-standing position that any issues with Pakistan, including those related to Jammu and Kashmir, are to be resolved bilaterally between the two countries. (ANI)

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