Continuing his comments on the brief military conflict between Pakistan and India earlier this year, US President Donald Trump has stated that eight planes were “essentially” shot down.
“In eight months I ended eight wars, including Kosovo and Serbia, the Congo and Rwanda… Pakistan and India,” he said during a speech at the American Business Forum in Miami late Wednesday.
“I was in the middle of a business deal with both of them. And then I read on the front page of a certain newspaper (I won’t mention the newspaper because it’s usually fake news) but I heard that they were going to war. Eight planes, seven planes were shot down, an eighth was seriously injured. [sic]. But basically eight planes were shot down,” he said.
He reiterated his earlier claims that he threatened not to make trade deals unless the two countries agreed to peace.
“I am not trading with you; we will not make any deals with you if you are at war with each other,” he said.
“A day later, I get a call: ‘We made peace.’ They stopped. I said, ‘Thanks, let’s trade.’ Isn’t that great? Tariffs did it. Without tariffs, that would never have happened.”
The US president has already stated on several occasions that between five and seven planes were shot down during the May conflict between the two neighboring countries. He also reiterated his praise for Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asum Munir, whom he met in Washington in September. Last month he had said that seven “beautiful new planes were shot down” during the brief military escalation between Pakistan and India.
India disagrees with Trump’s claims that the ceasefire between the two countries was a result of his intervention and threats to break off trade negotiations.
The May conflict between Pakistan and India was sparked by an attack on Hindu tourists in occupied Kashmir, which New Delhi, without evidence, said was backed by Pakistan. Pakistan has denied involvement and the Ministry of External Affairs has questioned the credibility of India’s account of the events, saying it was “full of lies”.
Both sides used fighter jets, missiles, artillery and drones during the four-day conflict, killing dozens of people. After reciprocal attacks on each other’s air bases, it took US intervention on May 10 for both sides to finally reach a ceasefire. Immediately after the conflict, Pakistan said it shot down six Indian fighter jets during the conflict, including the French-made Rafale. New Delhi acknowledged “some losses” during the conflict, but denied losing six planes.
Months later, in September, Prime Minister Shehbaz – during a speech at the United Nations General Assembly – said that the Pakistan Air Force turned “seven of the Indian aircraft” into scrap and dust. Trump later also described how he pitted both nations during a conflict in which “seven planes were shot down.”
