Trump Now Claims 'Eight', Not Seven Planes, 'Were Shot Down' During India-Pakistan Conflict
New Delhi: Once again with a pat on his back for ‘stopping wars’, United States President Donald Trump has claimed that as many as “eight planes” were “shot down” during the India-Pakistan military confrontation.
Speaking to reporters at an event in Miami, Florida, on November 5, Trump said: “India and Pakistan… eight planes were shot down, essentially.” He said that it was seven but the eighth one “was really badly wounded”.
Previously, Trump has repeatedly claimed that military jets were shot down during the India-Pakistan conflict in May, although the Ministry of External Affairs has refused this claim. He initially claimed the number to be five, increasing it a month later to claim “seven jets” were downed.
Just last month, on October 28, while addressing a gathering in South Korea ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, Trump asserted that he used the threat of a 250% tariff imposition with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, adding that seven planes were “shot down” in the strikes and counter-strikes.
The Republican leader also claimed that his threats to impose trade restrictions compelled both the nations to agree to a truce.
Also read: 'Tariffs Did That': Trump Again Claims Credit for India-Pakistan Truce
“This is war. And they’re two nuclear nations. I said I’m not gonna make any trade deals with you guys unless you agree to peace,” Trump claimed he told the counterpart nations. “A day later we get a call: ‘we made peace’. They stopped. I said, ‘Thank you, let’s trade’,” he said, adding that tariffs did that.
He also claimed that he ended eight wars in eight months of his government.
India has repeatedly rejected claims of any third-party intervention in the process of striking peace with Pakistan. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that no foreign leader asked India to halt Operation Sindoor – India’s strikes on terror bases in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir following the terror strike in Kashmir’s Pahalgam that killed 26 civilians.
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