New Delhi: US President Donald Trump once again created an eyebrow-raising moment by making Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif stand up like a school boy, as he himself boasted about stopping the India-Pakistan war.
President Trump said, “I think you (Shehbaz Sharif) should actually stand. Come, please, stand for a second.” As Sharif stood awkwardly for a few seconds, Trump added, “I spoke to PM Modi, he said he is watching us right now.”
Apart from Shehbaz Sharif, other prominent guests included Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
The episode unfolded at the latest Trump-led Board of Peace Summit, in Washington, attended by all member countries, where Trump again claimed credit for ending the India-Pakistan conflict.
“I stopped that war between India and Pakistan. My friend Narendra Modi knows it,” Trump declared, before instructing Shehbaz Sharif to stand as he spoke. He further added the unsubstantiated claim that 11 aircraft were shot down during the clashes.
Referring to Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir, who he described as a “great guy”, Trump said: “He said in front of our Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, he said: ‘Do you know nobody knows but I believe that President Trump saved 25 million lives when he stopped the war between us and India’.”
Trump repeats mediation claim
President Trump has repeatedly claimed he mediated between India and Pakistan in 2025 following India’s aerial strikes in Pakistan during Operation Sindoor, during which terror outposts operating from Islamabad were targeted.
During his speech, Trump also claimed he threatened to put “200% tariffs” on both the nuclear-armed nations if they continued to be at war.
New Delhi has consistently denied any third-party mediation during the conflict.
The US president said, “I called them (Modi and Sharif), and I said, listen, I’m not doing trade deals with you two guys if you don’t settle this up. And all of a sudden, we worked out a deal.”
“I said, if you fight, I’m going to put 200 per cent tariffs on each of your countries. They both wanted to fight. But when it came to money, there’s nothing like money. When it came to losing a lot of money, they said, I guess we don’t want to fight. Eleven jets were shot down. Very expensive jets,” Trump added.
India’s presence at the Board of Peace Summit was limited to an observer member, represented by Namgya Khampa, Charge d’Affaires at the Indian Embassy in Washington, D.C.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
Also read: Asim Munir can’t be seen serving Israel. Trump’s Board of Peace puts Pakistan in tough spot