Pakistan PM thanked me for saving '10 million lives': Trump repeats claims of settling India-Pakistan conflict

United States President Donald Trump on January 9 repeated his claim that he played a decisive role in preventing a potential conflict between India and Pakistan, asserting that his intervention helped save “a minimum of 10 million lives.”

Speaking to mediapersons after meeting top oil and gas executives at the White House, Trump said Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had publicly thanked him during a recent visit to the US for stepping in to defuse tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. According to Trump, Sharif acknowledged that the US President’s involvement prevented a situation that could have escalated rapidly.

“The Prime Minister of Pakistan came here and made a very public statement. He said that President Trump saved minimum ten million lives having to do with Pakistan and India, and that was going to be raging,” Trump said while responding to questions.

Referring to his repeated assertions of brokering peace, Trump also spoke about the Nobel Peace Prize, saying he did not seek recognition but believed such efforts deserved acknowledgment. “I don’t want to be bragging about settling such conflicts, but I can’t think of anybody in history who should get the Nobel Prize more than me,” he remarked, adding that stopping wars was more important to him than accolades.

Trump further claimed that he had intervened in multiple global conflicts over the years, including situations that could have spiralled into full-scale wars. He cited the India–Pakistan standoff as one such case, saying eight jets were shot down during heightened tensions and that nuclear escalation was a real possibility before he stepped in to calm the situation. “I don’t care about the credit. I care about saving lives. I’ve saved tens of millions of lives,” he said.

The US President has made similar statements several times since May last year, maintaining that it was his pressure that helped ease tensions between India and Pakistan.

India, however, has consistently rejected claims of third-party mediation, reiterating that peace efforts were conducted directly between the two countries. According to Indian officials, Pakistan’s Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) contacted his Indian counterpart on May 10 to request an end to hostilities, following India’s launch of Operation Sindoor targeting terror bases in Pakistan. The operation was carried out in response to the Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir in April 2025, in which 26 people were killed.

Indian authorities have maintained that the subsequent ceasefire understanding was reached bilaterally, without the involvement of any external mediator.