US President Donald Trump has stated that he believes up to five jets were shot down during the recent conflict between India and Pakistan, which followed an attack in Kashmir in April. Trump made these remarks at a dinner with Republican lawmakers at the White House. However, he did not specify which side the jets belonged to.
"In fact, planes were being shot out of the air. Five, five, four or five, but I think five jets were shot down actually," Trump said, discussing the India-Pakistan hostilities, without providing further details.
Pakistan has claimed to have shot down five Indian planes in air-to-air combat. Meanwhile, India's highest-ranking general stated in late May that the country shifted tactics after incurring losses in the air on the first day of hostilities and gained an advantage before a ceasefire was declared three days later. India has also claimed to have downed "a few planes" belonging to Pakistan. Islamabad, while acknowledging damage to its air bases, has denied losing any planes.
Trump has repeatedly claimed credit for brokering the ceasefire between India and Pakistan, which he announced on social media on May 10, following discussions between Washington and both countries. He has stated that US pressure led to de-escalation. However, India has publicly disagreed with Trump's assertions that his intervention and threats to halt trade talks were the reason for the ceasefire. India has maintained that New Delhi and Islamabad must resolve their issues directly, without external involvement.
Trump has also claimed that he stopped the escalation of the conflict by threatening to halt trade with both New Delhi and Islamabad unless they agreed to end hostilities. He said that the situation was potentially at a "nuclear stage". "We stopped a lot of fights, very, very big one was India and Pakistan. We stopped that over trade. We are dealing with India and Pakistan. We said that we are not going to be dealing with you at all if you are gonna fight," Trump stated.
However, the Indian government has denied that trade was discussed during conversations between the two countries. Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri stated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi conveyed India's determination to take action against terrorism to the world during a phone call with Trump. Misri also clarified that there was no discussion at any level regarding a US-India trade deal or any proposal for mediation by the US between India and Pakistan. Randhir Jaiswal, the spokesman for India's foreign ministry, said that while top leaders in New Delhi and Washington were in touch, the issue of trade did not come up in any of these discussions.
Despite India's denial of US involvement, Trump has continued to claim that he played a crucial role in de-escalating tensions between the two countries. He has stated that he spoke directly with the leaders of both India and Pakistan and warned them that they would lose US trade if the conflict escalated. "I called each leader, I respect them greatly. I talked about trade. I said, but you're not trading with us if you're going to go to war, if you're going to start throwing nuclear weapons around," Trump said. He also lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a "fantastic man".
