Anwar Iqbal
July 9, 2025
The Trump administration on Tuesday doubled down on its narrative that US President Donald Trump played a central role in defusing a potentially nuclear confrontation between India and Pakistan in May.
In a high-visibility moment at the White House on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu handed Trump a letter
nominating him for the Nobel Peace Prize, citing, among other things, Trump’s “decisive diplomacy” in resolving disputes.
This symbolic endorsement comes amid growing signs that the Trump administration is carefully shaping its South Asia message — amplifying its version of regional stability while deliberately avoiding any confrontation with India or with Pakistan’s current leadership.
The evolving narrative was further underscored at the State Department’s daily news briefing — the first to publicly address both the ceasefire claim and ex-PM Imran Khan’s continued detention during Trump’s
second term in office.
Asked about Indian officials’ repeated denials of Trump’s role in the 2025 Line of Control
ceasefire, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce avoided taking a position. “So many comments speak for themselves,” she
said.
“That’s one of the good news aspects of our modern world — people can see what’s really occurring. You’re not reliant on a comment to know what has really happened.”
Pressed further, Bruce added, half in jest: “Everyone will have an opinion. That’s an opinion. Some opinions are wrong. Mine rarely are, but other people’s opinions can be wrong.” She laughed and moved on.
The comments came just hours after Trump himself revisited the claim during his joint appearance with Netanyahu. “We stopped a lot of fights. A very, very big one was India and Pakistan. We stopped that over trade,” Trump said. “They were maybe at a nuclear stage. Stopping that was really important.”
He added that the United States had used the threat of suspending trade talks to pressure both governments and that he had personally contacted the leadership in New Delhi and Islamabad. He also referenced a meeting with Pakistan’s army chief as part of the de-escalation effort.
While Islamabad has not only endorsed this version but also submitted its own
Nobel nomination for Trump last month, India continues to strongly refute it.
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar reiterated this position after a recent
meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, telling reporters that “President Trump had nothing to do with the ceasefire.” Indian officials have
repeatedly emphasised that the de-escalation was prompted by internal military-level communications, not foreign mediation.
The Trump administration, however, has chosen not to affirm India’s denial — allowing President Trump’s pro-Pakistan narrative to stand uncontested.
For observers in Islamabad, this is significant. Not only is Trump being publicly credited by Pakistan, but the US government, for now, appears content to let that version circulate internationally — a quiet but unmistakable nod to Pakistan’s strategic utility in Washington’s broader diplomatic framework.