Modi 'tough as hell', says Trump; once again claims credit for ending Indo-Pak conflict
Tokyo/Seoul (PTI): On the one hand, he praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the “nicest looking guy”, a “killer” and “tough as hell”. But in the same breath, Donald Trump once again waded into India-Pakistan conflict by claiming he stopped their recent military hostilities.
A few hours earlier, the US president also claimed that “seven brand new” planes were shot down in the May 7-10 Operation Sindoor.
“Prime Minister Modi is the nicest looking guy … he looks like you'd like to have your father like… he's a killer… he's tough as hell,” Trump said while speaking at the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) CEO Summit in Gyeongju, South Korea.
He landed in South Korea Wednesday morning from Japan as part of three-nation tour of Asia.
While emphasising that he has a “great relationship” with Modi, Trump reiterated that he used trade to resolve the war between India and Pakistan.
“I called Prime Minister Modi. I said, we can't make a trade deal with you… (He said) No, no, we must make a trade… I said, No, we can't. You are starting a war with Pakistan. We're not going to do it,” Trump said.
He also praised Pakistan’s army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, calling him “a great fighter” and “a great guy.”
“Then I called Pakistan. I said, we're not going to do trade with you because you're fighting with India and you know, two nuclear nations. And they said, no, no, no, you should let us fight. They both said that,” he added.
Trump claimed that the leaders of both India and Pakistan called him after two days and stopped fighting.
“After literally two days, they called up, they said, we understand, and they stopped fighting. How is that? Isn't that amazing? Now, you think Biden would have done that?” Trump said.
However, hours earlier in Tokyo, Trump had said that he managed to get the war stopped in 24 hours. The US president is known to make inconsistent comments.
In Tokyo, while speaking at a reception and dinner with business leaders on Tuesday, Trump said: “Seven planes were shot down, seven brand new, beautiful planes were shot down, and they were going at it ... two big nuclear powers.”
He added that he told Modi -- "a very nice man, a very good man, and the Field Marshal over in Pakistan, I said, 'Look, we're not going to do any trade if you're going to be fighting,'” Trump said.
Trump said that India and Pakistan argued that war has nothing to do with trade with the US.
“(They said) one thing has nothing to do with the other. I said this, it has a lot to do with the other …two nuclear powers…we get that nuclear dust all over the place. All of you are affected, right? And we said, No, we're not doing any deals if you're going to fight. And within about 24 hours, that was the end of that. It was amazing, actually,” the US President said.
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 dozens of times that he “helped settle” the conflict between India and Pakistan.
India has consistently maintained 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.
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.
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Karnataka: Indigo disruption forces newlyweds to attend reception online
Hubballi (Karnataka) (PTI): The venue was all decked up and a delicious spread ready for the invitees. But Megha Ksheerasagar and Sangam Das could not be present for their own wedding reception, thanks to the national flight disruptions that has sent many passengers across the country into a tizzy.
The newlyweds' reception was fixed here on December 3, but the couple was forced to attend their grand event only via video conference due to the disruptions in top carrier Indigo's operations, mainly due to crew woes.
Not meaning to miss the important day, the couple appeared on a large screen at the venue through video conferencing from Bhubaneswar, greeted the guests and apologised for not being personally present.
Instead, the bride's parents graced the occasion at the scheduled reception venue--Gujarat Bhavan, here, on behalf of the couple that had tied the knot on November 23 in Odisha's Bhubaneswar.
According to the family, the couple, both software engineers, work in Bengaluru. The reception was arranged at the bride's native place in Hubballi on Wednesday.
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To be part of their special day, the couple had booked tickets on the Bhubaneswar-Bengaluru-Hubballi route for December 2. Some relatives had booked tickets on the Bhubaneswar-Mumbai-Hubballi route. However, due to operational disruptions, IndiGo flights were continuously delayed from 9 am on December 2 until early morning on December 3, and were eventually cancelled.
"My daughter's wedding happened on November 23 and we had organised a reception at our native place in Hubballi for people here. The flight kept getting delayed and at the last moment, at around 4 am, it got cancelled. Now what could we do after that. We had to come up with some solution. Then I decided to do the reception online. I immediately arranged for a screen and asked my daughter and son-in-law to join the reception online," the bride's father Anil Kumar Ksheerasagar told PTI Videos.
He urged the central government to take corrective measures so that public, being the tax payers, don't suffer.
"What the problem with IndiGo is, we don't know. My daughter and son-in-law were supposed to come via an IndiGo flight but that got cancelled. IndiGo alone can't be blamed. The government must understand that it is in case of emergencies that people prefer flights. Some measures need to be taken to resolve this issue. When the PM's flight gets cancelled, he is taken by helicopter. Why is the same not done for us, the common people. We also have emergencies, don't we. The government must think of this, and if they ignore public woes, they should remember that we are also VIPs because we pay tax."
Relatives had come for the reception from across the country--Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Bagalkote, Davangere and Belagavi.
"I didn't know what to do as relatives and guests had come from so many places. I was stressed, but then I quickly decided to do it online," Ksheerasagar said.
As the couple could not travel to Hubballi, the bride's parents sat in place of the newly-weds at the reception venue and conducted the rituals, while the bride and groom, dressed up in Bhubaneswar, attended their grand reception online.
