US President Donald Trump reiterated his claim that he brokered a ceasefire between India and Pakistan in May, adding that Pakistan Army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir told him he "saved millions of lives."
In his remarks to military leaders in Quantico, Trump also said that he was “honoured” when Pakistan Army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, “who is a very important guy in Pakistan”, praised him for saving millions of lives.
"The prime minister of Pakistan was here along with the field marshal (Asim Munir) who's a very important guy in Pakistan. And he was here three days ago," Trump said.
"And I didn’t even realise it as beautifully as he said it, but he said that to a group of people that were with us...He said, ‘This man saved millions of lives because he saved the war from going on.'"
Trump claimed that the hostilities had been escalating for four days, with reports of seven planes being shot down. "India and Pakistan were going at it, and I called them both. And in this case, I use trade. I'm not going to trade with you. You start two nuclear nations. Big nuclear. No, no, no. You cannot do that," he said. "You go into this freaking war and I stopped it."
“Actually, they just shot down seven planes. It was starting. There's a lot of bad blood. And I said, 'You do this, there's not going to be any trade,” he further added.
Trump did not clarify which side lost the seven jets. India has consistently rejected his account, while Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif claimed at a recent UN General Assembly that his air force shot down seven Indian jets, stating, "Our falcons took flight and turned 7 Indian jets into scrap."
Satellite imagery, however, confirms that Indian strikes inflicted heavy damage on Pakistani airbases, destroying hangars and runways, while Pakistan's retaliatory efforts were largely unsuccessful.
Trump also highlighted his mediation in other conflicts, including his claim of averting a long-standing conflict in Africa between Rwanda and the Congo: "We saved the Congo with Rwanda. They've been fighting for 31 years. 10 million people dead. I got that one done and very proud of it," he said.
Despite these assertions, Trump expressed frustration over the likelihood of not receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, suggesting it might go to someone who had not directly intervened in conflicts: "Will you get the Nobel Prize? Absolutely not. They'll give it to some guy that didn't do a damn thing. They'll give it to a guy that wrote a book about the mind of Donald Trump and what it took to solve the wars."
Trump had also made similar claims at the UN podium last week, reiterating that he stopped the conflict between India and Pakistan in May. India, however, has consistently maintained that the ceasefire was achieved through direct talks between the Directors General of Military Operations of both militaries.
Trump reiterated his frustration over not potentially receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, but stressed, "I don't want it. I want the country to get it."
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