President Donald Trump said on Monday that US intervention prevented a “bad nuclear war” between Pakistan and India, after the South Asian rivals agreed a ceasefire following a series of clashes.
“We stopped a nuclear conflict. I think it could have been a bad nuclear war, millions of people could have been killed. So I’m very proud of that,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
Trump also said the United States is ready to help Pakistan and India in the wake of a ceasefire agreement that he says his administration helped broker.
Trade is a big reason why they stopped fighting, he said at an event at the White House.
His statement came after the South Asian nations agreed on ceasefire brokered by the US on Sunday after the nuclear-armed neighbours engaged in hours of overnight fighting.
Taking to his Truth Social wall, Trump praised leaders of both countries for agreeing to halt the aggression.
“While not even discussed, I am going to increase trade, substantially, with both of these great nations. Additionally, I will work with you both to see if… a solution can be arrived at concerning Kashmir,” Trump said in the post.
The ceasefire came after Pakistan armed forces launched a large-scale retaliatory military action, named “Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos” and targeted several Indian military strikes across multiple regions.
The strikes, described by officials as “precise and proportionate”, were carried out in response to India’s continued aggression across the Line of Control (LoC) and within Pakistan’s sovereignty.
This follows India’s unprovoked missile attacks on multiple Pakistani cities during the night of May 5 and 6, which New Delhi claimed were aimed at “terrorist targets” in response to last month’s Pahalgam attack in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
However, the strikes resulted in civilian casualties in Pakistan, prompting a strong response.
Pakistan hit 26 Indian military facilities and dozens of Pakistani drones hovered over major Indian cities, including capital New Delhi, in the offensive operations.
US mediators, alongside diplomatic backchannels and regional players, proved critical in pulling the nuclear-armed rivals back from the brink, experts say.
Tanvi Madan, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington DC, says US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s call to Pakistani Army Chief Asim Munir on 9 May “might have been the crucial point”.
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar told Pakistani media that “three dozen countries” were involved in the diplomacy – including Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the US.