US President Trump says 11 jets downed during India-Pak hostilities last year, repeats role in resolution of conflict

Washington: US President Donald Trump has repeated his claim of settling the conflict between India and Pakistan, adding that 11 jets were shot down during the four-day hostilities in May last year.

Speaking on board Air Force One on Wednesday, Trump said he should have won the Nobel Peace Prize "more than anybody" for settling eight wars, including the one between India and Pakistan.

India has consistently denied any third-party intervention.


Trump claimed the conflict between India and Pakistan "was going to be nuclear."

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Without providing details, the US President said that "11 planes were shot down" during the conflict.

Trump did not specify whether the jets were lost by either of the two countries or whether he was referring to combined losses by both sides.

India has said that at least a dozen Pakistani military aircraft, including F-16 jets, were destroyed or damaged in Indian strikes during Operation Sindoor.

Trump said Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif credited him with saving 30 to 50 million lives by stopping the Indo-Pak conflict.

"Guess what, it could have been a lot more than that," Trump said.

India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7 last year, targeting terrorist infrastructure in territories controlled by Pakistan in response to the Pahalgam terror attack.

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The strikes triggered four days of intense clashes that ended with an understanding on stopping the military actions on May 10.

Since then, Trump has repeated his claim that the fighting ended following his intervention. New Delhi has been maintaining that the two sides halted their military actions following direct talks between their militaries without any mediation by the US.