ISLAMABAD: United States President Donald Trump on Tuesday reiterated he had brokered a “historic ceasefire” between India and Pakistan using trade as leverage, while urging his administration to help build diplomatic ties strong enough for the nuclear-armed rivals to someday “go out and have a nice dinner together.”
The statement came days after a major standoff 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 Kashmir.
Trump, who announced the ceasefire on Saturday, said it followed a night of intense diplomatic activity. Subsequently, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio informed the two countries had agreed to hold talks at a neutral venue to discuss a broad range of outstanding issues.
Trump made the remarks about the ceasefire during his address to the Saudi-US Investment Forum in Riyadh, shortly after arriving in the Kingdom where he met Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and senior Saudi officials.
The visit also saw the signing of more than $300 billion in defense and economic deals.
“Just days ago, my administration successfully brokered a historic ceasefire to stop the escalating violence between India and Pakistan,” he said. “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.
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.
With input from AP
