Trump says Pak officials holds trade talks next week, US close to a deal with India

By Anjali Sharma

WASHINGTON – US president Donald Trump on Saturday warned that he would not sign any trade deal with either Pakistan or India if the two countries were going to be at war with each other.

Trump has stated that Pakistani officials will visit the US next week for trade talks and that Washington and New Delhi are close to reaching a deal.

“Pakistan representatives are coming in next week. We’re very close to making a deal with India. And I wouldn’t have any interest in making a deal with either if they were going to be at war with each other…,” Trump told reporters during a briefing at Joint Base Andrews.

He also claimed credit for the Indo-Pak ceasefire, saying the exchange of missiles and drone attacks between the warring neighbors earlier this month could have turned into a nuclear disaster.

Trump made a sudden announcement of the ceasefire between the two nations , which was confirmed by the two sides shortly afterwards.

He had claimed that he leveraged trade to end the hostilities and probably stopped a nuclear war, given that both India and Pakistan are nuclear-armed powers.

Pakistan acknowledged the US role and thanked Trump for the ceasefire.

India stated that the cessation of firing and military action was directly negotiated between the two countries.

Minister of External Affairs Dr S Jaishankar, in an interview with Dutch public broadcasters NOS, stated, “We made one thing very clear to everybody who spoke to us, not just the United States, but to everybody. saying, ‘Look, if the Pakistanis want to stop firing, they need to tell us. We need to hear it from them. Their general has to call up our general and say this and that is what happened.”