U.S. President Donald Trump, who brokered a “historic ceasefire” between India and Pakistan using trade as leverage, said his administration wants to help build diplomatic ties strong enough for the nuclear-armed rivals to someday “go out and have a nice dinner together.”
Trump’s latest statement came days after a major military clash between the two South Asian neighbors, which saw both sides exchange missile and drone attacks as well as artillery fire across the Line of Control in the disputed Kashmir region.
Washington-brokered truce between India and Pakistan came after Trump Administration’s intense diplomatic activit. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the two countries had agreed to hold talks at a neutral venue to discuss a broad range of outstanding issues.
Speaking at the U.S. -Saudi Investment Forum in Riyadh where he met Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Trump noted that, “just days ago, my administration successfully brokered a historic ceasefire to stop the escalating violence between India and Pakistan.”
“And I used trade to a large extent to do it and I said, ‘Fellas, come on, let’s make a deal. Let’s do some trading. Let’s not trade nuclear missiles. Let’s trade the things that you make so beautifully.”
Trump praised the efforts of his top aides, including Vice President JD Vance and Rubio, and called the leadership in both India and Pakistan “strong and smart.”
“Maybe we can even get them together a little bit, Marco, where they go out and have a nice dinner together,” he added. “Wouldn’t that be nice?”
He warned that the recent crisis, which he said “started off small,” had the potential to spiral into a broader conflict with devastating consequences.
“Millions of people could have died,” he said, referring to his administration’s diplomatic effort which including Marco Rubio having telephonic conversations with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Army Chief General Asim Munir while Vice President J D Vance speaking to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
India, however, negated shortly before Trump’s speech that trade was a factor in the US-mediated truce.
Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for India’s Ministry of External Affairs, confirmed that top leaders in New Delhi and Washington remained in close contact during the standoff, but denied that trade was discussed.
“The issue of trade didn’t come up in any of these discussions,” he said, referring to calls between Vance and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as well as between Rubio and External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.
In Washington, the State Department said the U.S. is now focused on encouraging direct communication between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.
State Department’s Principal Deputy Spokesperson Tommy Piggott said, “We welcome the ceasefire reached between India and Pakistan this weekend and we commend both prime ministers for choosing the path of peace,” said Piggott. “We also want to encourage direct communication between the parties.”
Muhammad Luqman is Associate Editor at Views News Now. He writes on wide-ranging issues including economy, South Asia, the Middle East, agriculture, economy and innovation. Luqman has worked some of the leading news organizations and won acclaim for his original and research-based works.
