No trade if you fight: Trump again claims credit for stopping India-Pak conflict

Highlights

New York: US President Donald Trump has once again claimed credit for halting the conflict between India and Pakistan, asserting that he warned both...

New York: US President Donald Trump has once again claimed credit for halting the conflict between India and Pakistan, asserting that he warned both countries that the United States would suspend trade deals if they continued fighting.

Speaking at a press briefing following the NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands, Trump stated: "Maybe the most important of all, India and Pakistan, and that wasn't whether or not they may someday have nukes, like we're talking about in the Middle East, like we're talking about with Israel and Iran," he said, referring to the nuclear capabilities of both South Asian nations.

Trump explained that he had “a series of phone calls on trade” with both India and Pakistan amid the rising tensions earlier this year.

The conflict escalated into a four-day exchange of cross-border drone and missile strikes, which ceased on 10 May after an understanding was reached between the two countries.

“I said, ‘Look, if you're going to go fighting each other… it was getting very bad, you know how bad that last attack was. It was really bad,” Trump said, adding, “If you're going to go fighting each other, we're not doing any trade deal.”

He further claimed that when both countries insisted on trade negotiations, he reiterated, “We're not doing any trade deal.”