Trump Again Claims Tariffs Prevented India-Pakistan War

Washington: US President Donald Trump has once again claimed that he prevented a war between India and Pakistan by threatening both countries with steep tariffs, saying his trade policy helped stop "eight wars" during his presidency.

Speaking in an interview with CNBC on Thursday, Trump said he warned both New Delhi and Islamabad that he would impose 200 per cent tariffs if the conflict continued.

"I stopped eight wars because of tariffs... I did it with India and with Pakistan," Trump said, adding that five of the eight conflicts were halted because of tariff threats.

Claiming the two nuclear-armed neighbours were on the brink of a wider conflict, Trump said, "They were going to war, and they are nuclear nations."

He also asserted that Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had told him he had "saved at least 30 million lives" by preventing the conflict.

Trump's remarks come amid continued criticism of his trade policies. Last month, the US Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that his administration had exceeded its authority by using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) of 1977 to impose broad-based import tariffs.

The India-Pakistan tensions followed the April 2026 terror attack in Pahalgam that killed 26 people, after which India carried out precision strikes on terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan under Operation Sindoor.

India has consistently rejected Trump's claims of US mediation, maintaining that the understanding to end hostilities was reached through direct talks between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of the two countries and reiterating that all issues with Pakistan are strictly bilateral.