Key points
- Trump hints at expanding trade with Pakistan
- Says there was a possibility of nuclear conflict between India and Pakistan
- India has offered 100pc tax-free trade: Trump
ISLAMABAD: United States President Donald Trump has said that his intervention stopped the India-Pakistan conflict from spiralling into nuclear war by leveraging trade.
In an interview with Fox News, Donald Trump said Pakistan and India were stuck in a tit-for-tat cycle of fighting.
Trump termed it a foreign policy success – “a bigger success than I would be ever given credit for.”
“Those are major nuclear powers and they were angry. The next phase was probably…you see where it was getting.”
He said the conflict could have turned “nasty” had he not jumped in to secure a ceasefire.
Talking about the possibility of a nuclear conflict, he said India and Pakistan were very close to a nuclear war.
“And I said we’re gonna talk about trade. We’re gonna do a lot of trade…don’t forget Iran wants to trade with us,” he said.
Trade with Pakistan
The US president said he had a great conversation with Pakistan and wanted to do trade with them.
He also praised products made in Pakistan and said he would be more than happy to do trade which according to him was still not large enough.
“Ohh…they would love to trade…they would love to trade, they are brilliant people…they make brilliant products.”
He said he has good relations with Pakistan.
Happy with the ceasefire
Previously, the US president told US troops at a base in Qatar during a Gulf tour that Pakistan and India were happy with the ceasefire.
He told them that hostilities between Pakistan and India had been settled after he urged the two countries to focus on trade instead of war.
The nuclear-armed neighbours halted their worst fighting in nearly three decades after agreeing to a ceasefire on May 10, following diplomacy and pressure from the United States.
Pakistan welcomed Trump’s role in stopping the conflict and said India had approached the US for a ceasefire.
At least 51 people were killed in Pakistan, including women and children, over the four days of the conflict.
Dozens were also killed and injured in India. The escalation was the biggest between the two countries since the 1971 war.
