India, Pakistan were 'very close' to a nuclear war: Trump

WASHINGTON: United States President Donald Trump claimed that Pakistan and India were very close to a nuclear war, calling the ceasefire agreement between the two nuclear-armed nations one of his “bigger successes.”

Speaking to Fox News during his visit to the Middle East, Trump discussed his role in mediating a ceasefire between Pakistan and India, suggesting that his intervention helped prevent what he described as a potential nuclear conflict.

“That was going to be a nuclear war, I think, or close… And now everyone’s happy,” Trump said. “In fact, I told my people, call them up—let’s start trading immediately.”

He elaborated on his conversations with Pakistani leadership, saying, “I had great conversations with Pakistan. We can’t forget them. I talked about trade with Pakistan—they would love to trade. They are brilliant people and make incredible products. We don’t do much trading with them.”

Reiterating the severity of the situation, Trump emphasized, “India and Pakistan were very close to a nuclear war. And now everyone is happy. I’m using trade to settle scores and to make peace.”

Trump described his diplomatic achievement as one that won’t receive the credit it deserves. “A bigger success than I’ll ever be given credit for,” he said. “Those are major nuclear powers. Those are not just little powers and they were angry”.

Read More: We stopped ‘Nuclear Conflict’: President Trump on India-Pakistan Tensions

Highlighting the escalation between the two nations, Trump said, “The next phase was probably, did you see where it was getting? It was tit for tat. It was getting deeper – more missiles, everyone was saying ‘stronger, stronger,’ to a point where the next one’s going to be, you know what? The N word.”

“It’s the N word. That’s a very nasty word, right? In a lot of ways. The N word used in a nuclear sense—that’s the worst thing that can happen. And I think they were very close. The hatred was great,” he added. “And I said, ‘We’re going to talk about trade. We’re going to do a lot of trade.’”

Trump also criticized India’s trade policies, saying, “India… they’re one of the highest tariff nations in the world. They make it almost impossible to do business. Do you know that they’re willing to cut 100% of their tariffs for the United States?”