At UNGA, Trump Repeats Claim of Ending 'Pak-India War', Accuses New Delhi of Funding Russia's Ukraine Attacks
New Delhi: US President Donald Trump, in his United Nations General Assembly address, accused India and China of being "primary funders" of Russia's war in Ukraine and repeated his earlier claim that the “Pakistan-India” war was among seven conflicts that he personally ended in the past seven months.
"China and India are the primary funders of the ongoing war by continuing to purchase Russian oil," Trump said in his address in New York. This is his first address since returning to the White House for his second stint.
Trump's administration has set a 25% tariff "penalty" on Indian imports over this – raising India's total tariffs to 50%.
On Ukraine, Trump said he “always thought that would be the easiest” war to end because of his relationship with Russian president Vladimir Putin. Instead, he said, the conflict has dragged on for three years, “killing 5,000 to 7,000 young people a week”. In addition to China and India, he also accused North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries of hypocrisy: “They are buying oil and gas from Russia when they are fighting Russia,” he said.
Trump also told world leaders gathered at the UN that during a seven-month period he had ended “seven unendable” wars and that the India and Pakistan resolution was among those.
“In seven months, I ended seven unendable wars. They said they were unendable, some were going for 31 years, one was 36 years. I ended seven wars, and in all cases they were raging with countless thousands of people being killed...Cambodia and Thailand, Kosovo and Serbia, Congo and Rwanda, Pakistan and India, Israel and Iran, Egypt and Ethiopia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.”
India has maintained no third party helped affect the ceasefire of the escalation in tensions following the terror attack in Pahalgam which killed 26 civilians and the retaliatory strikes on terror bases in Pakistan by India under Operation Sindoor.
Indian diplomats normally take the floor to exercise a right of reply whenever Pakistan makes false or misleading statements targeting India. As the UNGA session continues, it will be worthwhile to watch if India will seek to correct the record on what Trump spoke.
Trump also said the UN had offered little help.
“What is the purpose of the United Nations?” he asked, adding “All they seem to do is write a really strongly worded letter and then never follow that letter up. It’s empty words and empty words don’t solve war.”
He noted that some had suggested he be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, adding that “the real prize will be to save millions of lives.”
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