Trump says he prevented India-Pak nuclear war for the '25th time', repeats five planes were shot down
'We stopped wars between India and Pakistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda,' Trump said.
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'They shot down five planes and it was back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. I called them and said, 'Listen, no more trade. If you do this, you're not going to be good…' They're both powerful nuclear nations and that would have happened, and who knows where that would have ended up. And I stopped it.'
— ANI (@ANI)
This is not the first time he has said it. Since May 10, Trump has publicly repeated this version of events at least 25 times. Last week, while addressing Republican senators at a dinner, he went further, 'You had India, Pakistan, that was going... in fact, planes were being shot out of the air. Five, five, four or five. But I think five jets were shot down actually. That was getting worse and worse, wasn't it? That was looking like it was going to go. These are two serious nuclear countries and they were hitting each other.'
White House, UN back Trump's story
The White House has echoed his claims. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Monday, 'Look at what the president has done on the world stage. He has ended wars, like India and Pakistan. He continues to work aggressively to end the war in Russia and Ukraine. He completely obliterated Iran's nuclear sites. He has continued to hopefully negotiate a ceasefire between Israel and Gaza, to end that conflict and release all of the hostages.'
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At the UN Security Council, US Acting Ambassador Dorothy Shea added, 'In the past three months alone, the US leadership has delivered de-escalations between Israel and Iran, between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, and between India and Pakistan.'
She continued, 'The United States, under President Trump's leadership, played an important role in encouraging the parties to reach these resolutions, which we applaud and support.'
India rejects mediation talk, calls decision bilateral
India has maintained a firm position. According to Indian officials, the decision to halt military operations was made after Pakistan's Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) contacted his Indian counterpart on May 10. India's Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish, said, 'On achieving its primary objectives, a cessation of military activities was directly concluded at the request of Pakistan.'
The Ministry of External Affairs has not endorsed any suggestion that Trump or the US played a mediating role. Sources said Prime Minister Narendra Modi clearly conveyed in a 35-minute call with Trump last month that 'India does not and will never accept third-party mediation.'
Operation Sindoor: The flashpoint
India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK). This was in response to the Pahalgam attack that killed 26 civilians. The attack was claimed by The Resistance Front (TRF), believed to be a proxy group of Lashkar-e-Tayyiba.
For four days, both countries exchanged drone and missile strikes. On May 10, the ceasefire was agreed upon after the military channel was activated by Islamabad.
US bans terror group behind attack
On June 17, the US formally designated The Resistance Front as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio
said, 'The organisation claimed responsibility for the April 22
Pahalgam terror attack
in Jammu and Kashmir, which claimed the lives of 26 civilians.'
India welcomed the move. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar stated, 'The Resistance Front is a front organisation of Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, and we welcome this designation as a strong affirmation of India-US counter-terrorism cooperation.'
Opposition turns heat on Modi
Back home, the political fallout continues. The Congress party has taken aim at Prime Minister Modi for not addressing Trump's repeated claims in public or Parliament.
Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh posted on X, 'As the Modi Government continues in its refusal to give firm dates for a debate on Pahalgam-Sindoor in Parliament and as the Modi government persists in its refusal to commit to a reply by the PM in the debate, President Trump reaches the silver jubilee, the quarter century mark on his claims.'
'He has trumpeted 25 times in the last 73 days but the Prime Minister of India is totally quiet, finding time only to travel abroad and to destabilise democratic institutions at home,' Ramesh added.
Opposition leaders are pressing for the Prime Minister to speak on both the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor. On Tuesday, both Houses of Parliament faced disruptions over the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in Bihar and the unresolved issues surrounding India-Pakistan hostilities.
The Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have been adjourned till July 23. When they reconvene, the government may face further pressure to address the Trump claims and India's position directly.
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