'Told them no trade, if you do not stop war': Trump on India-Pakistan ceasefire

May 14, 2025 by News Desk

U.S. President Donald Trump has once again claimed credit for brokering a ceasefire between India and Pakistan, asserting that he used the promise of trade deals to push both nations toward de-escalation following India’s recent cross-border strikes under Operation Sindoor.

Speaking at the U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum, Trump said, “Let’s do some trade,” describing how he encouraged both countries to halt hostilities in exchange for expanded economic ties with the United States. “If you stop it, we’re doing trade. If you don’t stop it, we’re not going to do any trade,” he added, noting that the U.S. was in talks with both India and Pakistan to deepen trade relations.

His comments came in the wake of India’s targeted strikes across the Line of Control (LoC), a response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 civilians. Trump said the strikes heightened the urgency for U.S. diplomatic intervention, which he framed as negotiations tied to commercial incentives.

However, Indian officials have firmly denied any foreign mediation, stating that the ceasefire resulted from a direct military-to-military understanding between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of India and Pakistan.

“There is no decision to hold talks on any other issue at any other place,” a senior Indian official said, reaffirming New Delhi’s longstanding position that all matters with Pakistan must be resolved bilaterally.

While U.S. officials, including Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, did speak with Indian leaders after Operation Sindoor, sources in New Delhi clarified that trade was not discussed. The focus, they said, was solely on de-escalation and conflict prevention.

Despite Trump’s public claims that trade incentives played a role in halting hostilities, U.S. officials have remained largely silent on that specific point. In a subsequent briefing, Rubio expressed support for “restraint and dialogue” but made no mention of trade-linked diplomacy.

Indian authorities, meanwhile, have cautioned against reading too much into the military understanding, calling it a tactical mechanism aimed at reducing cross-border incidents—not a signal of a broader diplomatic thaw with Islamabad.