“I Settled Eight Wars”: Trump Claims Credit for Averting India-Pakistan Nuclear Clash

WASHINGTON D.C. (Feb 11, 2026) – In a characteristic display of “Tariff Diplomacy,” US President Donald Trump claimed on Tuesday that his threat of economic sanctions prevented a nuclear catastrophe between India and Pakistan last year.

Speaking to Fox Business, Trump asserted that his administration’s intervention halted the escalation following India’s Operation Sindoor in May 2025. He claimed to have told both nations, “If you don’t settle this war, I’m going to charge you tariffs.”

The “10 Planes” & “10 Million Lives” Claim

Trump provided a dramatic, albeit contested, retelling of the 2025 conflict:

• The Escalation: He claimed “10 planes were shot down” during the dogfights, a number significantly higher than official reports from either New Delhi or Islamabad.

• Nuclear Brinkmanship: Trump stated that in his opinion, the conflict was headed for a nuclear exchange that could have claimed 10 million lives.

• The Pakistan Quote: He alleged that the Prime Minister of Pakistan personally thanked him for saving millions of people, a claim he has repeated over 80 times since the ceasefire on May 10, 2025.

India’s Persistent Denial

Despite Trump’s narrative of mediation, the Indian government has remained steadfast in its “No Third-Party” stance:

1. Strategic Autonomy: India has consistently denied any Washington-led mediation, maintaining that all issues with Pakistan must be resolved bilaterally.

2. Operation Sindoor: New Delhi framed its May 7, 2025, strikes on terror infrastructure as a direct, sovereign response to the Pahalgam attack (April 22, 2025), which killed 26 civilians.

3. The Ceasefire: While a ceasefire was reached on May 10, 2025, India maintains it was the result of back-channel military talks, not American economic threats.

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