ibn sultan
New Delhi, July 15: US President Donald Trump has once again stirred diplomatic waters, reiterating his controversial claim that it was his intervention that prevented a nuclear war between India and Pakistan following the April 22 militant attack in Pahalgam, South Kashmir.
Speaking during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Trump said the situation between the two nuclear-armed neighbours was “going very badly” and “could have escalated into a nuclear war within a week.” He boasted that the US used trade as leverage to de-escalate tensions. “I said, we are not going to talk to you about trade unless you get this thing settled, and they did,” he claimed.
Trump’s assertion echoes his June remarks aboard Air Force One, where he told reporters that he “solved a big nuclear problem” by speaking to the leadership of both India and Pakistan. “They were going at it, and they could have gone at it nuclear,” he stated.
This isn’t the first time the former US president has taken credit for calming South Asia. Trump has repeatedly claimed that his behind-the-scenes diplomacy played a crucial role in halting hostilities following India’s precision strikes on cross-border terror camps, an assertion India has consistently and firmly denied.
In response to the latest claim, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) reiterated India’s long-standing policy: any matter related to Jammu and Kashmir is strictly a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan. “That stated policy has not changed,” the MEA emphasized. “The outstanding matter remains the vacation of illegally occupied Indian territory by Pakistan.”
The MEA also clarified that “the issue of trade” never featured in any discussions between Indian and US leadership since the launch of ‘Operation Sindoor’, which marked India’s intensified campaign against cross-border militant infrastructure.
The Indian diplomatic establishment sees Trump’s remarks as an unnecessary intrusion into an issue that New Delhi insists must be resolved without external mediation. Experts view the former president’s claims as politically driven and factually disconnected from the established diplomatic record.
While Trump’s statements may find resonance in the US domestic political landscape, India remains unequivocal in its rejection of any third-party intervention in matters concerning its sovereignty and territorial integrity. (CNS)
