- Trump says he told Pakistan, India that no US trade if they fight.
- Says both nations are ‘unbelievable’ and they stopped war.
- Says he told both nations that he can solve anything.
US President Donald Trump has once again offered to help mediate the longstanding Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan, stressing that he can solve the issue between the two nuclear-armed nations.
Speaking on Thursday, President Trump repeated his willingness to assist both countries in finding a peaceful solution to the decades-old conflict, echoing similar remarks made by the US State Department a day earlier.
His renewed offer follows a ceasefire agreement he helped broker after India and Pakistan came dangerously close to an armed conflict — one of their most serious military standoffs in recent years.
Speaking to reporters after signing a bill into law on Thursday, US President Donald Trump stressed he had “stopped a war” between Pakistan and India.
“Eventually they were gonna go nuclear … and I stopped it, I called each leader … and I spoke to them and talked about trade,” Trump said.
“I said, ‘You’re not trading with us if you go to war … if you’re going to start throwing nuclear weapons around. They were both unbelievable. They understood it exactly, they stopped. I stopped that war with phone calls and trade,” Trump added.
Praising the leaders of both nations for showing restraint, Trump said that he would continue to support efforts towards peace. “I will work with both of you to see if, after a “thousand” years, a solution can be arrived at concerning Kashmir,” he said.
“We’re going to get them together. I told them, India and Pakistan … they have a longtime rivalry over Kashmir. I told them ‘I can solve anything,” Trump said while responding to another question.
“I will be your arbitrator. I will be your arbitrator. I can solve anything.”
When asked what specific steps Washington might take, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said earlier this week that President Trump had a track record of bringing unlikely parties to the negotiating table.
She expressed hope that a breakthrough on the Kashmir issue could also be achieved, noting that Trump is “the only one to bring certain people to the table to have conversations that nobody thought was possible.”
Kashmir remains a highly sensitive and disputed region that has been a flashpoint between the two nuclear-armed neighbours for over 70 years.
