Trump again claims that he helped 'settle' tensions between India, Pakistan
New York/Washington, Aug 9 (PTI): US President Donald Trump repeated the claim that he got "things settled" between India and Pakistan following the four-day military conflict between the two countries that could have turned into a "nuclear conflict".
Speaking at the White House on Friday, Trump also claimed that five or six planes "got shot down" during the recent conflict between the South Asian neighbours.
The US president did not specify whether the jets were lost by either of the two countries or if he was referring to combined losses by both sides.
New Delhi has been maintaining that India and Pakistan halted their military actions following direct talks between their militaries without any mediation by the US.
Trump made the comments flanked by Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev and Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan after they inked a US-brokered peace agreement during a trilateral signing ceremony.
"As President, my highest aspiration is to bring peace and stability to the world. Today's signing follows our success with India and Pakistan."
"They were going at it, they were going at it big and they were two great leaders that came together just prior to what would have been a tremendous conflict, as you know, a nuclear conflict, probably,” Trump said.
Asserting that he is settling conflicts through trade, Trump said, “I got things settled with India, Pakistan. I think it was trade more than any other reason. That's how I got involved."
"I said, ‘You know, I don't want to be dealing with countries that are trying to blow up themselves and maybe the world'. They are nuclear nations," he said.
Trump referred to the conflict between India and Pakistan twice during his remarks at the event, adding them to the nearly 35 previous occasions where he has claimed that he stopped the war between the two countries through trade.
“That was a big one, getting that one settled. I think you'd agree that was a big one,” Trump said, turning to the Azerbaijani President.
“And they were going at it, you know, they were shooting airplanes out of the sky… five or six planes got shot down in their last little skirmish, and then it was going to escalate from there. That could have gotten to be very, very bad,” Trump claimed.
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.
At the ceremony, Trump added that he is solving conflicts around the world because he wants to save a lot of lives.
“I love saving lives. That's what it's about. And you know, when you save lives, you really end up having a peaceful world. Usually that ends up pretty well.”
Trump also listed the conflicts between Congo and Rwanda, Thailand and Cambodia and Serbia and Kosovo that he said he helped settle.
Responding to a question on the Ukraine war, Trump said, “I think we are getting close."
"I think that a lot of things happened recently that would make this go forward. I'm not going to mention anything having to do with India, but maybe that had an impact. But what really had an impact was NATO has stepped up in terms of their spending on buying military equipment."
Trump also said that no matter what he does, he will not be given the Nobel Peace Prize.
“I'm not politicking for it. I have a lot of people that are…it would be a great honour, certainly, but I would never politick. I'm not doing it for that. I'm doing it because of I really, number one, I want to save lives. That's why I'm involved so much with Ukraine and Russia.”
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NATO, others turn down US call for help in Hormuz: Trump
Washington (PTI): President Donald Trump on Tuesday said NATO and most of US' other allies have rejected his calls to help secure the Strait of Hormuz as the war with Iran entered the third week.
In a social media post, Trump asserted that Iran’s military has been “decimated” and he no longer felt the need for assistance from NATO countries or anyone else.
Last week, Trump had sought help from European nations and others who depend on oil supplies transiting from the Hormuz Strait to safeguard the critical waterway.
“The United States has been informed by most of our NATO “Allies” that they don’t want to get involved with our Military Operation against the Terrorist Regime of Iran, in the Middle East, this, despite the fact that almost every Country strongly agreed with what we are doing, and that Iran cannot, in any way, shape, or form, be allowed to have a Nuclear Weapon,” the US President said in a post on Truth Social.
Iran's attacks on Gulf nations and its grip on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil is transported, have sparked increasing concerns of a global energy crisis and are unnerving the world economy.
“I am not surprised by their action, however, because I always considered NATO, where we spend Hundreds of Billions of Dollars per year protecting these same Countries, to be a one-way street — We will protect them, but they will do nothing for us, in particular, in a time of need,” Trump said.
He said Australia, Japan and South Korea too have turned down his call for help.
“Fortunately, we have decimated Iran’s Military – Their Navy is gone, their Air Force is gone, their Anti-Aircraft and Radar is gone and perhaps, most importantly, their Leaders, at virtually every level, are gone, never to threaten us, our Middle Eastern Allies, or the World, again,” Trump said.
He said that given the scale of recent military successes, the US no longer "need" or desires assistance from NATO countries, adding that it never relied on such support in the first place.
Speaking as President of the United States, the "most powerful" country in the world, "we do not need" help from anyone, Trump said.
The West Asia conflict began on February 28 when the US-Israeli combine conducted airstrikes on Iran.
The Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that connects the Persian Gulf to the open ocean, has effectively been shut following the US and Israel attack on Iran and Tehran's sweeping retaliation.
However, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had said that from Tehran's "perspective", the strait is "open". "It is only closed to Iran's enemies, to those who carried out unjust aggression against our country and to their allies.”
Earlier in the day, a second Indian-flagged LPG tanker, Nanda Devi, reached the country after safely sailing from the war-hit Strait of Hormuz. On Monday, the first ship, Shivalik, reached Mundra port in Gujarat.
As of now, 22 Indian vessels remain on the west side and two on the east side of the strait.
Indian authorities are in constant touch with all the relevant stakeholders in the region to secure the safe passage of the remaining ships, officials said.
