Trump reiterates claim of ending India-Pakistan conflict

US President Donald Trump has doubled down on his claim of playing a key role in ending the India-Pakistan conflict following Operation Sindoor, adding that in 10 months, he has ended eight wars. The Republican leader has so far repeated the claim nearly 70 times that he stopped the conflict in May between India and Pakistan.

“In 10 months, I ended eight wars, including Kosovo (and) Serbia, Pakistan and India, they were going at it. Israel and Iran, Egypt and Ethiopia.… Armenia and Azerbaijan,” Trump said on Tuesday (December 9) in remarks to his supporters at a rally on the economy in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania.

However, India has consistently refuted the claim, stating that the ceasefire agreement was reached after the Pakistani Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) reached out to his Indian counterpart.

When it all started

India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the April 22 Pahalgam attack that killed 26 civilians.

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India and Pakistan reached an understanding on May 10 to end the conflict after four days of intense cross-border drone and missile strikes. India has consistently denied any third-party intervention in resolving the conflict.

Intervention in Cambodia-Thailand conflict

Trump further stated that Cambodia and Thailand have started fighting again, and “tomorrow”, he will make a phone call to those countries.

“Who else could say I'm going to make a phone call and stop a war of two very powerful countries, Thailand and Cambodia. They are going at it. But I’ll do it. So we're making peace through strength. That's what we're doing,” added Trump.

‘Reverse migration’

As for immigration, Trump said that for the first time in 50 years, “we now have reverse migration, which means more jobs, better wages and higher income for American citizens, not for illegal aliens.”

He said that he has announced a permanent pause on “Third World migration”, including from “hellholes" like Afghanistan, Haiti, Somalia and many other countries.

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“…Why can't we have some people from Norway, Sweden, just a few. Let's have a few from Denmark. Do you mind sending us a few people? Send us some nice people. Do you mind? But we always take people from Somalia, places that are a disaster, right? Filthy, dirty, disgusting, ridden with crime. The only thing they're good at is going after ships,” said Trump.

19 high-risk countries

US Citizenship and Immigration Services issued new guidance allowing for “negative, country-specific factors” to be considered when vetting aliens from 19 high-risk countries. However, the list does not feature India.

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These countries are Afghanistan, Burma, Burundi, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Laos, Libya, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Togo, Turkmenistan, Venezuela and Yemen. These are the same countries that were subject to a travel ban announced by Trump in a proclamation issued in June this year.

(With agency inputs)