International, Jan 10: United States President Donald Trump on January 9 once again claimed that he played a decisive role in preventing a potential conflict between India and Pakistan, asserting that his intervention helped save “a minimum of 10 million lives.”
Speaking to mediapersons at the White House after meeting top oil and gas executives, Trump said Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had publicly thanked him during a recent visit to the US for stepping in to defuse tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. According to Trump, Sharif acknowledged that the US President’s involvement prevented a rapidly escalating situation.
“The Prime Minister of Pakistan came here and made a very public statement. He said that President Trump saved minimum ten million lives having to do with Pakistan and India, and that was going to be raging,” Trump said.
Referring to his repeated assertions of brokering peace, Trump also spoke about the Nobel Peace Prize, stating that while he did not seek recognition, such efforts deserved acknowledgement. “I don’t want to be bragging about settling such conflicts, but I can’t think of anybody in history who should get the Nobel Prize more than me,” he said, adding that stopping wars mattered more to him than accolades.
Trump further claimed that he had intervened in multiple global flashpoints over the years, including situations that could have escalated into full-scale wars. Citing the India–Pakistan standoff as one such instance, he said several jets were shot down during heightened tensions and warned that nuclear escalation was a real possibility before he stepped in. “I don’t care about the credit. I care about saving lives. I’ve saved tens of millions of lives,” he said.
The US President has made similar statements several times since May last year, maintaining that US pressure helped ease tensions between India and Pakistan. India, however, has consistently rejected claims of third-party mediation, reiterating that peace efforts were conducted directly between the two countries.
According to Indian officials, Pakistan’s Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) contacted his Indian counterpart on May 10 to seek an end to hostilities, following India’s launch of Operation Sindoor targeting terror bases in Pakistan. The operation was carried out in response to the April 2025 Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir, in which 26 people were killed.
Indian authorities have maintained that the subsequent ceasefire understanding was reached bilaterally, without the involvement of any external mediator.
