'Can solve anything', 'will bring India and Pakistan together': Trump

Washington/San Francisco, Jun 12 (PTI) Asserting that he "can solve anything", US President Donald Trump on Thursday said India and Pakistan have had a long time rivalry over Kashmir and he will bring the two nations together.

India has been maintaining its stance that Kashmir is a bilateral issue not open to third-party mediation.

“We are going to get those two (India and Pakistan) getting together," Trump said in response to a question during a bill signing ceremony in the White House.

"I told them, India and Pakistan, they have had a long time rivalry over Kashmir and I said ‘I can solve anything’,” he said.

Trump said he asked the countries how long has this rivalry been going on and “they said ‘2,000 years’,” to which he replied, smiling, “oh, that’s a problem.” The US president repeated his claim that he stopped a war between India and Pakistan with “phone calls and trade”.

“I stopped a war between India and Pakistan, and I stopped it with trade. I don't think I've ever seen a story written about it, but it was pretty, pretty cool. They were getting ready,” he said.

He said it was Pakistan’s turn to hit, and eventually they're going to go nuclear. “And I stopped it. I called each, I respect each leader greatly. I know them, and I spoke to them, and I talked about trade." Trump said he told the leaders of India and Pakistan that they are not trading with the US “if you're going to go to war, if you're going to start throwing nuclear weapons around. And I said it to both of them, and they were both unbelievable. Actually, they understood it exactly. They stopped. I stopped that war with phone calls and trade.

“And India is here right now, negotiating a trade deal, and Pakistan is coming, I think, next week. And I’m very proud of that. Nobody died... They each have very severe, very, very substantial numbers of nuclear weapons and I think we should get some credit for that, you know the whole Republican party should, because that’s their mindset.” Tensions between India and Pakistan escalated after the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, with India carrying out precision strikes on terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in the early hours of May 7.

Pakistan attempted to attack Indian military bases on May 8, 9, and 10. The Indian side responded strongly to the Pakistani actions.

The on-ground hostilities ended with an understanding of stopping the military actions following talks between the directors general of military operations of both sides on May 10.

Trump has been claiming that the US has stopped India and Pakistan from fighting.

However, India has been consistently maintaining that the understanding on cessation of hostilities with Pakistan was reached following direct talks between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of the two militaries. PTI YAS SCY SCY