Trump calls PM Modi a ‘very terrific man’, rakes up India-Pakistan war again

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday reiterated his claim that the recent conflict between India and Pakistan was stopped due to his direct intervention. Trump said he spoke with a “terrific man”, the prime minister of India, and also warned Pakistan that there would be no trade deal if the war continued.

“I'm talking to a very terrific man, Modi of India. I said, what's going on with you and Pakistan? Then I spoke to Pakistan about trade. I said, what's going on with you and India? This has been going on for a hell of a long time, sometimes under different names for hundreds of years,” the President said, addressing a cabinet meeting.

Trump repeated his earlier assertion that both India and Pakistan were on the verge of a nuclear war and explained how he managed to avert it.

“I said, I don't want to make a trade deal with you. You guys are going to end up in a nuclear war. And that was very important to them. 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. I don't give a damn. Your head's going to spin. You're not going to end up in a war. Within about five hours, it was done. It was done. Now maybe it starts again, I don't know. I don't think so. But I'll stop it if it does. We can't let these things happen,” he said.

Trump’s latest claims came a day before the 25 per cent additional tariff he has imposed on Indian goods kicks in on Wednesday. With the fresh tariff, the total levy on Indian imports to the US will rise to 50 per cent.

'Seven jets lost'

In his address, the President repeated that seven fighter jets were shot down during the India-Pakistan conflict. He had made a similar claim on Monday during his meeting with the President of the Republic of Korea.

"I saw they were fighting, then I saw seven jets were shot down. I said, 'That's not good.' That's a lot of jets. You know, USD 150 million planes were shot down. A lot of them. Seven, maybe more than that. They didn't even report the real number," Trump said.

India carried out airstrikes in several terrorist hubs in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on May 7 in retaliation to the Pahalgam terrorist attack in which 26 civilians were killed. India’s move sparked a military confrontation between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.

Trump had raked up the conflict several times in the last two months, asserting his role in bringing a ceasefire between the two countries. India, however, has rejected his claim and said the ceasefire decision was taken bilaterally after a request from the Pakistan DGMO.