Trump repeats claim he settled wars, including between India and Pakistan, with trade
New York/Washington, Aug 3 (PTI): US President Donald Trump on Sunday yet again took credit for stopping conflicts around the world, including the recent one between India and Pakistan.
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 on several occasions.
Trump's latest claim comes days after White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump should be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for ending several conflicts around the world including the one between India and Pakistan.
On Sunday, in a post on Truth Social, Trump slammed radio host and author Charlamagne Tha God, and said he (God) knows nothing about him or what he has done, “like just ending 5 Wars, including a 31 year bloodbath between Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, where Seven Million people have died, and there was no end in sight.”
“He didn’t know that, or India and Pakistan or, wiping out Iran’s nuclear capabilities, or closing the horrendous open Border, or creating the greatest economy,” Trump said.
Just a day earlier, Trump said in an interview on Newsmax that he has settled a lot of wars.
“You take a look at what's happened just over the last little while. We've settled a lot of, a lot of very beautiful wars have been settled… One of the wars India, Pakistan, nuclear,” Trump said adding that he settled conflict between Thailand and Cambodia as well as Congo and Rwanda.
“I settled that up. And I settled it up with trade. I settled a lot of them with trade. I said ‘listen, you guys are going to fight. You can fight all you want. I mean, just fight your hearts out. But we're not doing a trade deal’.
“All of a sudden they end up not doing a war. I settled a lot of wars. I think I settled averaging about a war a month. But, you know, we're saving millions of lives,” he said.
Trump on Wednesday announced the imposition of a 25 per cent tariff on all goods coming from India starting August 1, plus an unspecified penalty for buying Russian crude oil and military equipment.
The tariff for Pakistan was 19 per cent, lower than the 29 per cent announced by Trump in April. In fact, Trump on Wednesday also announced sealing a trade deal with Pakistan and said that Washington will work with Islamabad to develop what he described as the South Asian nation's “massive oil reserves.”
At a White House press briefing on Thursday, Leavitt said that Trump has “now ended conflicts between Thailand and Cambodia, Israel and Iran, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, India and Pakistan, Serbia and Kosovo and Egypt and Ethiopia.”
She said that the president has brokered, on average, about one peace deal or ceasefire per month during his six months in office. “It's well past time that President Trump was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize,” she said.
Since May 10, Trump has repeated his claim nearly 30 times that he “helped settle” the tensions between India and Pakistan and that he told the nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours that America will do a “lot of trade” with them if they stopped the conflict.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in Parliament this week that no leader of any country asked India to stop Operation Sindoor launched by India in retaliation after the April 22 terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam that killed 26 people.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday categorically said there was no third-party intervention in bringing about a ceasefire with Pakistan during Operation Sindoor, asserting that the halting of the military action was also not linked to trade as claimed by Trump.
Intervening in the special discussion on Operation Sindoor in the Rajya Sabha, Jaishankar said Prime Minister Modi and Trump did not have any phone calls between April 22, when the Pahalgam terror attack took place, and June 16.
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Experience comes when you play bigger teams in bilateral series: Rashid Khan
Chennai (PTI): Afghanistan skipper Rashid Khan called for more bilateral series against stronger cricketing nations after his team signed off from the T20 World Cup on a high, defeating Canada in their final group match here on Thursday.
Afghanistan played some exhilarating cricket, going down to South Africa in a gripping second Super Over after the scores were tied, a humdinger that provided one of the early thrills of the World Cup.
However, the spin-bowling stalwart said Afghanistan could make significant strides if they get regular opportunities to compete against stronger cricketing nations.
"Couple of areas to improve, with the batting, the middle order got a bit stuck against the big teams, and then with the bowling the death overs. That comes when you play the bigger teams in bilateral series," said Rashid after his team defeat Canada by 82 runs, with him returning excellent figures of 2 for 19.
The stalwart said the side had arrived well prepared for the tournament and produced some breathtaking cricket, but admitted the narrow defeat to South Africa proved costly and remained a painful setback.
"We were well-prepared (for the tournament), we played some unbelievable cricket. The game against South Africa, that really hurt everyone. We had to win one of those (first two) games and see how the tournament unfolded. We'll take some positive things from this World Cup and look forward," he said.
With head coach Jonathan Trott set to part ways with the team, Rashid described the departure as an "emotional" moment for the side.
"I think we had some wonderful times with him. Where we are now, he played a main role. It's emotional to see him leave us, but that's how life is. We wish him all the best and somewhere down the line we see him again."
Ibrahim Zadran, who was named Player of the Match for his unbeaten 95 off 56 balls, said it was satisfying to finally register a substantial score after two below-par outings.
"I enjoyed it, didn't play better cricket in first two innings, which I expect. Wanted to back my skills, really enjoyed it. Pressure was there, it's there all the time. I want to put myself in pressure situations and enjoy it," said Zadran.
"Wanted to play positive cricket, rotate strike and punish bad ball, create partnerships and this is what I have done."
