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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Ruckus outside counting centre in Mamata's constituency, TMC claims entry of car with BJP flag
Kolkata (PTI): The counting centre at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's Bhabanipur assembly constituency witnessed a ruckus a day ahead of the counting of votes, with TMC workers alleging two cars bearing the BJP's flag were allowed entry to the compound where EVMs are kept.
The incident comes close on the heels of a four-hour-long sit-in by Banerjee in front of the same counting centre at the Sakhawat Memorial Girls School on Thursday night, alleging unauthorised entry of persons into the strongroom.
With the polling now over, the wrangling for power in West Bengal has turned into a battle of nerves between the incumbent TMC and the BJP. Workers and leaders of both parties have been keeping a steely gaze on the security of strongrooms across the state where the electoral fate of the candidates is sealed.
Despite expressing her confidence in a "landslide victory", Banerjee has repeatedly aired her apprehensions of "counting malpractice and EVM tampering ahead of the day of results".
On Sunday morning, TMC workers camping 100 metres from the counting centre alleged that two cars with BJP flags entered the premises and went near the strongroom.
"The CAPF personnel at the spot are not allowing any vehicle or person to enter the premises of the counting centre without valid identity proof. Then how come this car, which we have not seen in the past few days, was allowed entry? Once we protested, the central forces asked us to move 100 metres away," a TMC activist said.
The TMC claimed that while the police personnel posted there promised the vehicle would be removed from the spot, it remained there for some time.
A senior Election Commission official said the car was passing by the Harish Mukherjee Road, and after checking by security forces and police, it was allowed to leave as nothing objectionable was found in it.
On Thursday night, two counting centres, including one at Sakhawat Memorial Girls School in the city, witnessed high drama after TMC leaders alleged a lack of transparency and possible malpractice at the strongrooms housing sealed EVMs of the assembly polls, which concluded on April 29.
TMC leaders and candidates, Sashi Panja and Kunal Ghosh, held a sit-in outside the Khudiram Anushilan Kendra counting centre on Thursday evening, alleging unauthorised activities inside the strongroom amid the absence of TMC agents
In Howrah, TMC protested renovation work by the public works department at a place adjacent to the strongroom, and the EC stopped the work temporarily.
On Saturday, the ruling party filed a complaint with the poll panel, alleging unauthorised sorting of postal ballot covers at the EVM strongroom in Khudiram Anushilan Kendra.
Similar scenes were witnessed on Saturday outside the strongrooms at Asansol College in Paschim Bardhaman and the Barasat Government College in North 24 Parganas districts, where TMC workers held protests, alleging that CCTV cameras were switched off for several minutes.
The EC turned down all allegations, saying the surveillance cameras were working in an uninterrupted manner.
BJP spokesperson Sajal Ghosh told reporters that the people of Bengal were finding it "hilarious" that the TMC, "which used to win elections through unfair means and strongarm tactics" were now coming up with all sorts of "frivolous charges".
"Are they scared of losing?" he posed.
