As Pakistan Army Chief General Asim Munir prepares to be hosted by US President Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday, spokeswoman Anna Kelly confirmed that the president would meet Munir after the general called for Trump to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for “preventing a nuclear war between India and Pakistan,” Reuters reported.
Ahead of the meeting, which follows a phone call with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday evening, Trump told reporters: “Well, I stopped a war … I love Pakistan. I think Modi is a fantastic man. I spoke to him last night. We’re going to make a trade deal with Modi of India.”
Trump reiterated his claim on Wednesday that he had halted the conflict between India and Pakistan, even as PM Modi maintained that the ceasefire following the four-day clash in May, following the Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir, was the result of direct military talks between the two countries, not US intervention.
“But I stopped the war between Pakistan and India. This man was extremely influential in stopping it from the Pakistan side. Modi from the India side and others. They were going at it – and they’re both nuclear countries. I got it stopped,” Trump said, just before the meeting with Munir—a rare engagement that may unsettle India, a key US strategic partner in countering China.
Trump says trade was key agenda in his India-Pak ‘mediation role’
Last month, Trump claimed that India and Pakistan, both nuclear-armed neighbours, agreed to a ceasefire following U.S.-mediated talks. He said the hostilities ended after he encouraged both countries to prioritise trade over conflict.
However, during a phone call with Trump on Tuesday—held on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada—Prime Minister Narendra Modi disputed this version. According to Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, Modi clarified that the ceasefire was achieved through direct military communication between India and Pakistan, and “not US mediation.”
While Pakistan has expressed gratitude to Washington for its mediating role, India has consistently rejected any third-party involvement.
“PM Modi told President Trump clearly that during this period, there was no talk at any stage on subjects like India-U.S. trade deal or U.S. mediation between India and Pakistan,” Misri stated in a press release.
“Talks for ceasing military action happened directly between India and Pakistan through existing military channels, and on the insistence of Pakistan. Prime Minister Modi emphasised that India has not accepted mediation in the past and will never do,” he added.
Misri also noted that while a meeting between Modi and Trump had been planned during the G7 summit, it was cancelled as Trump left a day early due to developments in the Middle East.
When will Trump and Modi meet?
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said that during their conversation, Trump asked PM Modi if he could make a stop in the US on his way back from Canada. However, Modi declined, citing prior commitments.
Misri added that Modi invited Trump to visit India later this year for the upcoming Quad leaders’ summit, an invitation Trump accepted.
The most intense fighting between India and Pakistan in years was triggered by an April 22 attack in Pahalgam that killed 26 people, most of them tourists. India blamed the assault on “terrorists” supported by Pakistan – an allegation Islamabad has denied.
According to Pakistan, the ceasefire was reached after its military responded to a call initiated by the Indian military on May 7 with Operation Sindoor.
On that day, Indian fighter jets carried out airstrikes on what New Delhi described as “terrorist infrastructure” across the border. This prompted retaliatory strikes over the next four days, involving the use of fighter jets, missiles, drones, and artillery by both sides.
Misri noted that Trump voiced support for India’s counterterrorism efforts, and that Modi told him India’s Operation Sindoor, which involved the cross-border action, was still ongoing.
(With Reuters inputs)
