President Donald Trump on Friday said he had helped India and Pakistan avert a nuclear war by using trade with the US as leverage to push for a ceasefire.
The South Asian neighbours exchanged artillery, plane and drone strikes this month after gunmen killed 26 people in April in the Himalayan tourist spot of Pahalgam in the Kashmir valley. India accused Pakistan of backing the attack, which Islamabad has denied.
“We stopped India and Pakistan from fighting, I believe that could have turned out into a nuclear disaster,” Mr Trump said in the Oval Office on Friday.
“We dropped trade, and we said we can't trade with people that are shooting at each other and potentially using nuclear weapons. … They're great leaders in those countries, and they understood, and they agreed, and that all stopped.”
Mr Trump infuriated New Delhi this month when he announced the US had “mediated” a ceasefire. Not only did his announcement pre-empt India making a statement, New Delhi has long maintained that any issues with Pakistan, including over the disputed Kashmir region, can only be addressed bilaterally and without the intervention of a third country.
India has insisted the recent cessation of hostilities with Pakistan was decided through direct contacts between the two countries' armies.
During an Indian Ministry of External Affairs news conference on Thursday, a spokesman said trade discussions never came up in ceasefire talks.
“The issue of trade or tariff did not come up in any of those discussions,” said Randhir Jaiswal.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif welcomed Mr Trump's mediation and his “very pivotal and paramount role” in ending the crisis.
According to US figures, trade between America and India totalled about $129.2 billion last year, compared to $7.3 billion between the US and Pakistan.
