US President Donald Trump on Monday lauded India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, calling him a “very good friend” and praising his leadership, as he expressed optimism that India and Pakistan would “live
very nicely together.”
Speaking at Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh Summit, Trump, referencing Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said, “India is a great country with a very good friend of mine at the top, and he’s just done a fantastic job.”
“I think that Pakistan and India are gonna live very nicely together, right?” he asked Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who stood just behind him, and smiled at his question.
“They are, they are…” Trump continued.
“And they’re two great… I tell you… leaders, great leaders as far as I’m concerned,” he said.
The US President’s response came moments after, at the same Summit, Shehbaz Sharif hailed Trump’s role in global peace efforts and re-nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize, which Maria Corina Machado has won.
Sharif said Trump’s leadership had “saved millions of lives” both in South Asia and the Middle East.
“Today, again, I would like to nominate this great President for the Nobel Peace Prize, because I genuinely feel that he is the most genuine and most wonderful candidate for peace,” Sharif said at the Summit.
“Had it not been for this gentleman, who knows, India and Pakistan are both nuclear powers. During those four days, the war could have escalated to a level where none of us would have lived to tell what happened,” he added, as Trump stood beside him.
Sharif also credited Trump and a coalition of regional leaders for their role in brokering peace in Gaza.
“Your valuable contribution, along with President Sisi, history will remember in golden words,” he added, praising Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Qatar’s Sheikh Tamim, Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan, Jordan’s King Abdullah, UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed, and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Donald Trump, on multiple occasions, has claimed credit for helping defuse tensions between India and Pakistan during India’s ‘Operation Sindoor’ in May this year, when a four-day military escalation had brought the two neighbours to the brink of war.
Trump has repeatedly asserted that “his intervention” at the time “prevented a catastrophic conflict”.
However, India has maintained that the ceasefire between India and Pakistan was reached through direct talks and negotiations between both countries, and that there was no external force involved.
The Gaza Peace Summit, attended by leaders from 20 countries, including UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, Spain’s Pedro Sanchez, and France’s Emmanuel Macron, aimed to finalise a framework to end the ongoing Gaza war and establish a roadmap for long-term regional stability.
While Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also been invited, Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh represented India at the Summit.
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