WASHINGTON — Former U.S. President Donald Trump has once again claimed credit for ending hostilities between India and Pakistan, insisting he personally secured a “full and immediate” ceasefire between the two nuclear-armed neighbours after talks allegedly mediated by Washington.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One ahead of his Asia tour, Trump said resolving the India-Pakistan conflict had been one of his toughest diplomatic challenges. “I got it done. If you look at India and Pakistan — I could say almost any one of the deals that I’ve already done I thought would have been more difficult than Russia and Ukraine,” he said.
Trump has repeated this claim several times in recent months, portraying himself as a global peacemaker. Earlier, he also suggested that his tariff threats against New Delhi pushed both sides toward peace.
However, India has repeatedly rejected Trump’s assertions, maintaining that any pause in hostilities was achieved through direct bilateral dialogue, without third-party mediation.
During the same exchange, Trump reiterated that India will halt Russian oil imports by the end of the year — a claim New Delhi has also denied. “India is cutting back completely,” Trump said, adding that he plans to discuss China’s Russian oil purchases with President Xi Jinping during their upcoming meeting at the ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur.
Trump also indicated he would delay any meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin unless there is a “deal on the Ukraine ceasefire,” but claimed that Putin had personally praised his previous efforts in negotiating peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
The former president is currently on a three-nation Asia tour, which includes stops in Malaysia, Japan, and South Korea, amid efforts to frame himself as a decisive global mediator ahead of next year’s U.S. election campaign.