'Eight planes were shot down': Trump again claims he ‘solved 8 wars’ including India-Pakistan, despite New Delhi’s firm denial

US President Donald Trump speaks after announcing the US Navy's new Golden Fleet initiative, unveiling a new class of warships, at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, on December 22, 2025. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP)

US President Donald Trump has once again revived his claim of having personally halted a war between India and Pakistan, portraying himself as the decisive factor that prevented what he described as a potential nuclear conflict between the two neighbours. The assertion comes despite India’s repeated and categorical rejection of any third-party role in de-escalating the crisis.

Speaking to reporters on Monday local time, Trump said, “I have solved eight wars. Thailand is starting to shape up with Cambodia, but I think we have it in pretty good shape.”

Referring specifically to South Asia, he added, “We stopped a potential nuclear war between Pakistan and India. The Prime Minister of Pakistan said that President Trump saved 10 million lives, maybe more.”

Trump went further to dramatise the situation, claiming that “eight planes were shot down” and that the conflict was rapidly escalating before it was brought under control. “Eight planes were shot down. That war was starting to rage. The only war I haven’t solved yet is Russia-Ukraine,” he asserted.

The remarks relate to the four-day military confrontation between India and Pakistan that followed Operation Sindoor, launched by New Delhi after the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people. Trump has repeatedly claimed that he used trade tariffs as leverage to defuse the crisis and that his intervention “settled” the situation within 24 hours.

India, however, has consistently dismissed this narrative. New Delhi has maintained that the de-escalation followed established military communication protocols between the two sides. According to the Indian position, Pakistan’s Director General of Military Operations contacted the Indian DGMO after incurring heavy damage, following which both sides agreed to halt all firing and military action on land, in the air and at sea from May 10. Indian authorities have stressed that the ceasefire was a bilateral military decision, not the outcome of any mediation by the United States or another country.

During the same interaction, Trump was questioned about the status of efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war. “The talks are going on between Russia and Ukraine. There is tremendous hatred between President Putin and President Zelenskyy,” he said, adding that it remained the only conflict he had not yet resolved.

His comments came against the backdrop of recent talks in Miami involving US and Russian delegations. Trump’s foreign envoy Steve Witkoff later said that Russia “remains fully committed to achieving peace” in Ukraine. “Over the last two days in Florida, the Russian Special Envoy Kirill Dmitriev held productive and constructive meetings with the American delegation to advance President Trump’s peace plan on Ukraine,” Witkoff said, adding that Russia valued US efforts to resolve the conflict.

The American delegation included Witkoff, Jared Kushner and White House staff member Josh Gruenbaum. Separately, Witkoff and Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council Secretary Rustem Umerov described meetings with American and European counterparts as “productive and constructive,” noting discussions on further developing Trump’s proposed 20-point plan and security guarantee frameworks for Ukraine.