US President Donald Trump has once again asserted that his trade and tariff policies played a decisive role in halting an armed confrontation between India and Pakistan earlier this year. Speaking from the Oval Office on Monday, Trump claimed that the two nuclear-armed neighbours were “ready to go at it” after the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22, which killed 26 civilians in India. He said his “very effective” message stopped the conflict, suggesting that economic pressure through tariffs prevented a potential war. “If you look at India and Pakistan, seven planes were shot down. They are nuclear powers. What I said was very effective. They stopped. And that was based on tariffs. It was based on trade,” Trump declared, emphasizing his belief that tariffs serve as tools for maintaining peace.

India, however, has categorically rejected Trump’s repeated claims of third-party involvement. Following the terror attack, India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting militant camps across the border and in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The four-day escalation ended on May 10, after both countries reached an understanding through direct communication between their Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs). The Indian government has maintained that the cessation of hostilities was achieved solely through bilateral talks and not because of any external mediation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also clarified in Parliament that “no foreign leader” influenced the decision to end military operations, reinforcing India’s long-standing position that all issues with Pakistan are to be resolved bilaterally.

Despite India’s denial, Trump continues to highlight the incident as part of his self-proclaimed diplomatic successes, claiming to have de-escalated seven global conflicts during his second term. Alongside India and Pakistan, he listed tensions between Cambodia and Thailand, Kosovo and Serbia, Congo and Rwanda, Israel and Iran, Egypt and Ethiopia, and Armenia and Azerbaijan. Trump asserted that his ability to impose tariffs gave him leverage to prevent wars, saying, “If I didn’t have tariffs to throw around a little bit, you would have at least four wars raging right now.” His remarks, though largely dismissed by New Delhi, underscore his ongoing effort to portray economic power as a cornerstone of global peacekeeping.