Washington, May 12, 2025: US President Donald Trump said Monday that he used America’s significant trade relationships with India and Pakistan as leverage to convince both nuclear-armed countries to halt escalating military hostilities and agree to a ceasefire.
The ceasefire agreement, brokered by the United States and announced on Saturday, marked the end of the most intense military confrontation between the two South Asian neighbours since the 1999 Kargil conflict. The fighting involved air, sea, and land-based strikes, including the use of drones, fighter jets, missiles, and artillery, and left at least 70 dead on both sides.
Speaking at an event at the White House, President Trump said, “The countries ended hostilities for a lot of reasons — but trade is a big one.” He added that the US is currently negotiating a trade deal with India and plans to initiate talks with Pakistan soon.
“I said, ‘Come on, we are going to do a lot of trade with you guys. Let’s stop it. If you stop it, we will do trade. If you don’t stop, we are not going to do any trade,’” Trump recounted. “People have never really used trade the way I used it.”
While Trump expressed hope that the ceasefire would be permanent, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi appeared less conciliatory in his address later that evening, describing the pause in military action as temporary.
“Pakistan must dismantle its terrorist infrastructure if it wants to be saved,” Modi said, adding that any future dialogue with Islamabad would be limited to terrorism and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir — referring to Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
The current flare-up was triggered by a deadly attack on April 22 in Indian-administered Kashmir’s Pahalgam region, which killed 26 tourists. India blamed Pakistan-based actors for the attack, prompting retaliatory strikes on multiple Pakistani cities. Pakistan denied any involvement and launched counterstrikes against Indian military installations, including in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
Pakistan’s response, dubbed Operation Bunyanum Marsoos, was hailed by Islamabad as a demonstration of national unity and military precision. “No one should have any doubt that whenever our sovereignty is threatened and territorial integrity violated, the response will be comprehensive, retributive, and decisive,” said Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, Pakistan’s military spokesperson.
On his social media platform Truth Social, President Trump reiterated his willingness to mediate between the two nations on the long-standing Kashmir issue. “I will work with you both to see if, after a ‘thousand years,’ a solution can be arrived at concerning Kashmir,” he wrote.
However, India has consistently maintained that Kashmir is a bilateral issue and has historically rejected any third-party mediation.
