TOKYO: US President Donald Trump has once again asserted that his administration prevented a potential war between Pakistan and India by leveraging trade tariffs as diplomatic pressure.
Speaking to business leaders in Japan, Trump recounted that his warning of halting trade with both nations helped defuse tensions that had escalated during a military standoff. He said the move convinced both countries to step back from the brink of conflict.
“Seven brand-new, beautiful planes were shot down,” Trump remarked while recalling the incident, without specifying which side suffered the losses. He went on to describe Pakistan’s army chief, General Asim Munir, as “a very good person,” and said he had personally spoken to both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pakistan’s prime minister at the time.
“I told them we won’t do any trade if you’re going to fight — and within 24 hours, the issue was resolved,” Trump claimed.
He noted that since both countries are nuclear-armed, a full-scale war could have had catastrophic consequences for the entire world.
Earlier, while addressing U.S. troops stationed in Japan, Trump repeated his claim that India had been preparing to go to war with Pakistan, but his administration’s threat of massive tariffs stopped the confrontation. “India wanted to fight Pakistan,” he said. “I told them, if you fight, we’ll impose huge tariffs on both sides. They said, okay, we won’t fight.”
Trump called the episode one of his major diplomatic successes and credited his trade policies with averting multiple conflicts worldwide. “No one understands tariffs like I do,” he said. “Tariffs stopped wars — without them, our national security wouldn’t be what it is today.”
He further claimed that during his tenure, his administration’s economic pressure helped prevent or end several other disputes, including tensions between Iran and Israel, Egypt and Ethiopia, and the long-standing conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
“We stopped the wars between Pakistan and India, Iran and Israel, Egypt and Ethiopia,” Trump asserted. “Everyone said the Gaza war couldn’t be stopped — but we did.”
