US President Donald Trump again claimed he brokered a ceasefire between India and Pakistan by threatening steep tariffs, invoking the episode as he criticised the Supreme Court of the United States for striking down his reciprocal trade measures.
Speaking as he argued against the court’s 6-3 ruling invalidating tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), Trump said tariffs have been a powerful diplomatic tool.
“I also stopped the war between India and Pakistan,” Trump said. “I did it largely with tariffs. I said, ‘You want to fight, that is fine, but you are not going to do business with the United States, and you are going to pay a 200% tariff on each country.’ They called up, and they said, we have made peace.”
Trump argued that the tariff threats prevented what he described as a potential nuclear conflict.
“Tariffs have likewise been used to end five of the eight wars I have settled,” he said. “I have settled eight wars, whether you like it or not, including India-Pakistan, big ones, which could have been nuclear.”
He added that the conflict was escalating rapidly: “Ten planes were shot down. That war is going and probably going nuclear. I did it largely with tariffs.”
Trump’s latest remarks revised an earlier claim in which he said 11 fighter jets were downed during the conflict. This time, he put the figure at 10.
Trump also cited remarks by Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif as proof of his role in defusing tensions.
“Yesterday, the Prime Minister of Pakistan said that President Trump saved 35 million lives by getting them to stop,” he said, referring to Sharif’s praise.
India has consistently denied Trump’s claim, saying the ceasefire was reached bilaterally through talks between the two countries’ Directors General of Military Operations.
New Delhi has reiterated its long-standing position that all issues with Pakistan, including those concerning Jammu and Kashmir, must be resolved directly between the two nations without third-party involvement.
The conflict followed the April 2024 Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 people were killed. India responded with targeted strikes on what it described as terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan under Operation Sindoor.
