US President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed credit for halting the escalation of the recent India-Pakistan conflict after the Pahalgam terror attack, asserting that he used trade as leverage to bring both countries to a cessation of hostilities.

According to Trump, his administration told both India and Pakistan that the US would not engage in trade discussions unless the conflict was settled, suggesting this pressure was decisive: “We did that through trade. I said, we are not going to talk to you about trade, unless you get this thing settled, and they did”.

Trump first announced the US-brokered ceasefire via social media on May 10, 2025, before any official statements from India or Pakistan. He later elaborated that the threat of withholding trade deals was instrumental in convincing both sides to halt military actions, stating, “If you stop it, we’ll do a trade. If you don’t stop it, we’re not gonna do any trade.

People have never really used trade the way I used it…”. This claim was also included in a sworn court filing by US Commerce Secretary Howard W. Lutnick, who argued that Trump’s offer of trade access was key to averting a full-scale war between the two nuclear powers.

However, India has categorically refuted these claims. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) reiterated that all matters related to Jammu and Kashmir are addressed bilaterally between India and Pakistan, and that there was no third-party mediation or discussion of trade in official conversations with the US during the crisis.

The MEA specifically stated, “The issue of trade did not come up in any of these discussions,” and emphasized that the cessation of hostilities was agreed upon following a direct military-to-military call between the Director Generals of Military Operations of both countries.

India described the outcome not as a “ceasefire” but as a cessation of hostilities, and maintained its longstanding policy of bilateral engagement with Pakistan on such issues.

In summary, while Trump and his administration assert that US trade leverage was crucial in ending the India-Pakistan conflict, India firmly denies any US role or trade-related pressure in the decision to cease hostilities, maintaining that the resolution was achieved through direct bilateral military communication and not external intervention.

Based On ANI Report