In a bold and characteristic statement, former US President Donald Trump has once again credited his administration’s strategic use of trade tariffs as a powerful peacekeeping tool—this time, in defusing tensions between India and Pakistan during their 2025 conflict.
Speaking from the Oval Office, Trump emphasized, “Tariffs are very important for the United States. We’re not just making hundreds of billions of dollars—we’re peacekeepers because of tariffs.” He went on to claim that if not for his tariff strategies, the world could still be witnessing four major wars.
Referring specifically to the brief but intense conflict between India and Pakistan earlier this year, Trump said, “They were ready to go at it. Seven planes were shot down. They are nuclear powers. And I don’t want to say exactly what I said, but what I said was very effective. They stopped. And that was based on tariffs. It was based on trade.”
India, however, has consistently rejected any third-party involvement, stating that the resolution to the hostilities came from direct military talks between both countries’ Directors General of Military Operations. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reiterated in Parliament that no foreign power, including the US, had influenced India’s Operation Sindoor, a retaliatory mission launched on May 7 following a deadly terror attack in Pahalgam.
The operation led to four days of high-tension strikes across the Line of Control, until an agreement to cease hostilities was reportedly reached on May 10. Trump, however, maintains that his diplomatic moves played a quiet but pivotal role in cooling down the nuclear-armed neighbours. He cited this example as one of seven global conflicts he claims to have de-escalated through economic leverage, alongside tensions in regions like the Congo, Kosovo, and the Middle East.
Whether or not Trump’s claims hold ground diplomatically, one thing remains clear: the world closely watches when the balance of peace teeters between words and war.
At the end of the day, peace—however it arrives—matters. Whether through back-channel diplomacy, bold leadership, or sheer economic pressure, preventing war and saving lives should be the world’s highest priority. As ordinary citizens, we may never fully know what happened behind closed doors, but we can all agree on one truth: diplomacy must always win over destruction.
