ISLAMABAD: United States President Donald Trump said he had spoken to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to avoid a war with Pakistan as he addressed a group of Indian nationals at a Diwali event in the Oval Office in Washington.
Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan reached an understanding on May 10 to halt all military actions on land, in the air, and at sea in a ceasefire announced by Trump.
The confrontation, which lasted four days, saw the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) successfully shoot down six Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter jets, preventing further violations of Pakistani airspace and averting a wider regional crisis.
The crisis de-escalated following diplomatic engagement led by U.S. President Donald Trump, who intervened to secure a full and immediate ceasefire between the two nuclear-armed nations. Islamabad welcomed the development, reaffirming its commitment to peace, dialogue, and regional stability while maintaining the right to defend its people and territorial integrity.
The two neighbors had traded fire using fighter jets, drones, missiles, and artillery in their worst fighting in decades, leaving around 70 people dead on both sides of the border.
Trump has since taken credit for ending the conflict, though New Delhi has disputed the involvement of any third party, insisting that India continues to deal with Pakistan bilaterally, according to Arab News.
“I just spoke to your Prime Minister today,” Trump told attendees at the Oval Office. “We had a great conversation. We talked about trade … Although we did talk a little while ago about let’s have no wars with Pakistan. And I think the fact that trade was involved, I was able to talk about that. And we have no war with Pakistan and India. That was a very, very good thing.”
Last week, Trump said at a White House dinner that Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had recently met him and “emotionally” credited him in front of a group of people for stopping multiple wars, saying millions of lives could have been lost in the conflicts.
According to Arab News, Trump also told the gathering that the Indian leader had assured him that New Delhi would not be buying “too much oil” from Russia, an issue that has become another sticking point between the two countries.
The US has imposed a 25 percent tariff on Indian goods over its Russian oil purchases, bringing the total import taxes on India this year to 50 percent.
The two sides are continuing their trade talks.
