Asked about reports that India is preparing to face higher US tariffs between 20-25 percent, Trump on Tuesday replied, “Ya, I think so.””India has been, they’re my friends, and he’s my friend, Trump said,” referring to Prime Minister Modi.”And you know, they ended the war with Pakistan at my request, and that was great. And Pakistan did also. We did a lot of, a lot of great settlements, including the recent one, as you know, with Cambodia,” Trump said.In a no-holds-barred attack in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi had dared Prime Minister Modi to categorically rebut US President Trump’s India-Pakistan ceasefire claims.”If Modi ji has even 50 percent of the courage that Indira Gandhi had, then clearly he must say in Parliament — Donald Trump is lying,” he had said.Modi, who spoke after Gandhi, affirmed that no leader of any country asked India to stop Operation Sindoor but lamented that while the nation got support from the entire world, the Congress and its allies could not stand behind the valour of the nation’s soldiers.Speaking with reporters after the debate ended, Gandhi said, “Narendra Modi did not clearly say that Trump is lying. Trump has said 29 times that he brought about a ceasefire, but Narendra Modi did not respond to it.” Since May 10, when Trump announced on social media that India and Pakistan had agreed to a full and immediate ceasefire after a long night of talks mediated by Washington, he has repeated his claim on several occasions that he helped settle the tensions between India and Pakistan.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.In a nearly 35-minute phone call with Trump last month, Modi had firmly stated that India does not and will “never accept” mediation and that the discussions between Indian and Pakistani militaries on cessation of military actions were initiated at Islamabad’s request.India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the Pahalgam attack that killed 26 civilians.India and Pakistan reached an understanding on May 10 to end the conflict after four days of intense cross-border drone and missile strikes.
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