‘PM Modi stopped everything in five hours’: Rahul Gandhi backs Trump’s claim of brokering India-Pak ceasefire

Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday (Aug 27) alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi halted the military actions against terror camps in Pakistan on US President Donald Trump’s directions, backing Trump’s claims. Gandhi made the remarks at a poll rally in Muzaffarpur as part of the ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’. This comes hours after the US president once again claimed that he brokered a ceasefire between India and Pakistan after a four-day military conflict in May.

Addressing the rally, the Congress leader said, “Trump said today that when the war between India and Pakistan was going on, I picked up the phone and told Narendra Modi and told him to stop whatever he was doing within 24 hours. And Narendra Modi stopped everything in five hours, not 24 hours.”

What did Trump claim?

During a cabinet meeting at the White House on Tuesday (Aug 26), the US president claimed that he had spoken with Modi, recounting the telephonic conversation between the two leaders.

“I am talking to a very terrific man, Modi of India. I said, ‘What’s going on with you and Pakistan?’ Then I spoke to Pakistan about trade. I said, ‘What’s going on with you and India?’” he said.

He further made a factually wrong statement, “This has been going on for a hell of a long time, sometimes under different names for hundreds of years.” India and Pakistan both became independent in 1947, marking the end of nearly 200 years of British colonial rule. Prior to that, they had been one country.

Trump also claimed that he stopped the conflict between India and Pakistan from “going nuclear”. He alleged that he threatened to impose tariffs and stop trade deals if they did not agree to a truce.

Trump claimed he forced Islamabad to step back amid the military escalation. “I said, ‘what’s going on?’ I said, ‘I don’t want to make a trade deal….’ I said, ‘no, no, I don’t want to make a trade deal with you. You are going to have a nuclear war. You guys are going to end up in a nuclear war’. And that was very important to them. I said, ‘call me back tomorrow, but we are not going to do any deals with you, or we are going to put tariffs on you that are so high. I don’t give a damn. Your head’s going to spin. You are not going to end up in a war’. Within about five hours, it was done. Now, maybe it starts again, I don’t know. I don’t think so. But I will stop it if it does. We can’t let these things happen,” the US president said.

What has India said?

Meanwhile, India has consistently maintained that the understanding of a ceasefire with Pakistan was reached following direct talks between the Director Generals of Military Operations (DGsMO) of the two militaries and no third party was involved.