Washington: Former US President Donald Trump has reiterated his claim of mediating a truce between India and Pakistan during their military standoff in May, asserting that he used trade threats and high tariff warnings to prevent a potential nuclear war. Speaking at an event, Trump said he personally intervened after tensions escalated between the two nuclear-armed neighbors.

“I was talking to a very terrific man, Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I asked him, ‘What’s going on with you and Pakistan? The hatred was tremendous’,” Trump claimed while recalling his alleged conversation with the Indian leader.

According to Trump, he warned Modi that the US would halt trade talks and impose massive tariffs unless India agreed to cease hostilities. “I said, ‘We’re not making any trade deals with you… or we’re going to put tariffs on you that are so high, your head’s going to spin,’” Trump said, adding that within five hours, the two countries reached a peace deal.

The former president further claimed that tensions between India and Pakistan had persisted for “hundreds of years under different names” and were on the verge of escalating into a nuclear conflict. He boasted that his use of tariffs and trade threats had helped stop not only this conflict but six other wars globally.

India, however, has firmly rejected Trump’s version of events. New Delhi maintains that the ceasefire understanding was reached solely through direct talks between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of both countries, without any third-party mediation. Prime Minister Modi has stated in Parliament that no foreign leader asked India to halt military operations during Operation Sindoor.

Trump’s remarks are not new; since May 10, when he first claimed that Washington mediated a “full and immediate” ceasefire between India and Pakistan, he has repeated this assertion over 40 times. Despite repeated denials from India, Trump continues to credit himself for averting what he describes as a potential “nuclear war” in South Asia.