On the day of his summit meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, United States President Donald Trump repeated multiple times his claim that he stopped the war between India and Pakistan, while also commenting on New Delhi's purchases of Russian oil.
New Delhi has been maintaining that India and Pakistan halted their military actions following direct talks between their militaries without any mediation by the US.
"I've negotiated five wars to their end, and the wars that were tough. India, Pakistan..." Trump said in an interview with Fox News a couple of hours after his high-stakes summit meeting with Putin ended in Anchorage, Alaska, on Friday.
The meeting between the two leaders concluded without any agreement on ending the Russia-Ukraine war.
In the same interview, Trump again spoke about resolving the conflict between India and Pakistan, as well as others, including between Congo and Rwanda, Thailand and Cambodia, and Armenia and Azerbaijan.
"Look at India. Take a look at India and Pakistan. They were shooting down airplanes already, and that would have been maybe nuclear. I would have said it was going to go nuclear, and I was able to get it done," Trump claimed.
Stressing that wars are "very bad", Trump said that he seems to have "an ability to end them, to get people together" for which he uses the "power of the United States".
When asked about how he settles conflicts like the one between India and Pakistan, Trump said he does so through trade.
"Because I deal with all of the countries for trade, and while I have them on the phone, if I'm dealing with them…they say, you know, there's a war going on, and if we're doing trade with one or both of them, I say 'we're not going to do a deal unless you make peace'."
In a separate interview with Fox News aboard Air Force One on his way to Alaska for the summit meeting, Trump spoke about the tariffs on India.
"Well, he (Putin) lost an oil client, so to speak, which is India, which was doing about 40 per cent of the oil. China, as you know, is doing a lot…And if I did what's called a secondary sanction, or a secondary tariff, it would be very devastating from their standpoint. If I have to do it, I'll do it. Maybe I won't have to do it," Trump said.
Last week, Trump imposed tariffs totalling 50 per cent on India, including 25 per cent for Delhi's purchases of Russian oil, which will come into effect from August 27.
Responding to the tariffs, the Ministry of External Affairs has said that the targeting of India is unjustified and unreasonable.
"Like any major economy, India will take all necessary measures to safeguard its national interests and economic security," it said.
In the interview, the US president said that he would like to focus on his country but keeps getting "these interruptions."
"I've solved six wars in six months, when you think about it, and that's from Pakistan to India, that was going to be a terrible one, planes being shot down, that was getting ready to flare, and they are nuclear powers and so many others," Trump claimed.
Since May 10, when Trump announced on social media that India and Pakistan had agreed to a "full and immediate" ceasefire, he has repeated his claim on several occasions.
Trump has claimed that he told the nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours that America will do a "lot of trade" with them if they stopped the conflict.
India has been consistently maintaining that the understanding on cessation of hostilities with Pakistan was reached following direct talks between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of the two militaries.