Stopped India-Pak conflict with trade, should get Nobel Prize for ending seven wars: Trump
New York/Washington(PTI): US President Donald Trump has repeated his claim that he solved the India-Pakistan conflict earlier this year with trade and asserted that he should get the Nobel Peace Prize for "ending seven wars".
Since May 10, when Trump announced on social media that India and Pakistan had agreed to a “full and immediate” ceasefire after a “long night” of talks mediated by Washington, he has repeated his claim over 40 times that he “helped settle” the tensions between India and Pakistan.
India has consistently denied any third-party intervention.
"On the world stage, we are once again doing things that we are just respected at a level that we have never been respected before. We are forging peace agreements, and we are stopping wars. So we stopped wars between India and Pakistan, Thailand and Cambodia," Trump said at the American Cornerstone Institute Founder's Dinner on Saturday.
He went on to say, "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."
"Just look at that. India, Pakistan, Thailand, Cambodia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kosovo and Serbia, Israel and Iran, Egypt and Ethiopia, Rwanda and the Congo. We stopped all of them. And 60 per cent of them were stopped because of trade," the US president claimed.
He added that "like with India, I said, 'look, we're not going to do any trade if you're going to fight and they have nuclear weapons. They stopped."
India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the April 22 Pahalgam attack that killed 26 civilians.
India and Pakistan reached an understanding on May 10 to end the conflict after four days of intense cross-border drone and missile strikes.
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 (DGMOs) of the two militaries.
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.
Trump said he was told that if he could stop the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, he should get the Nobel Prize.
"I said, 'Well, what about the seven others? I should get a Nobel Prize for each one'. So they said, 'but if you stop Russia and Ukraine, sir, you should be able to get the Nobel'. I said I stopped seven wars. That's one war, and that's a big one," Trump said.
He added that he had thought the Russia-Ukraine conflict would be easy to resolve "because I have a good relationship with President Putin, disappointed in him, but I do. I thought that would be the easiest one, but we'll get it done one way or the other."
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West Asia war: Vessel carrying 20,000 tonnes of LPG reaches Gujarat crossing Strait of Hormuz
Kandla (Gujarat) (PTI): A vessel carrying 20,000 metric tonnes of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) arrived at Deendayal Port Authority in Kandla in Gujarat after crossing the Strait of Hormuz amid the West Asia crisis, officials said on Sunday.
The Marshall Islands-flagged MV SYMI started its journey from Qatar and docked at the port in Kandla around 11.30 pm on Saturday after crossing the Strait of Hormuz on May 13, they added.
Since early March, 13 India-flagged vessels, comprising 12 LPG tankers and one crude oil tanker, have crossed the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway close to the coast of Oman through which roughly one-fifth of the world's energy supplies pass.
It has been severely disrupted by the conflict in West Asia that started on February 28, with the US and Israel launching joint attacks on Iran, triggering retaliatory strikes. It has resulted in one of the worst energy crisis the world has seen in recent decades.
Incidentally, at a special meeting of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (UNECOSOC) on safeguarding energy and supply flows, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Parvathaneni Harish said targeting commercial shipping, endangering civilian crew and impeding freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz is "unacceptable".
On May 13, an India-flagged commercial vessel came under attack off the coast of Oman.
Omani authorities rescued all 14 crew members of the vessel sailing from Somalia, but it was not immediately known who carried out the strike.
