India is a great country with good friend of mine at top: Trump

Sharm el-Sheikh: US President Donald Trump on Monday praised India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi without naming him, saying “India is a great country with a good friend of mine at the top”.

Trump, addressing a summit of world leaders at this Egyptian city after a ceasefire reached in Gaza ending the Israel-Hamas war, said from the podium that he thinks “India and Pakistan will live very nicely together”.

“India is a great country with a very good friend of mine at the top and he’s just done a fantastic job. I think Pakistan and India are going to live very nicely together,” Trump said while looking at Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif who was standing behind him, as he responded with a chuckle.

Earlier praising Sharif and his “favourite field marshal” Pakistan army chief Gen Asim Munir, Trump also invited the Pakistan prime minister to address the gathering.

Sharif said peace has been achieved in the Middle East after “untiring and relentless efforts” of President Trump.

“Pakistan had nominated President Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize for his outstanding (and) extraordinary contributions to first stop the war between India and Pakistan and then achieve a ceasefire along with his very wonderful team,” he said.

Sharif said he would like to nominate Trump again for the Nobel Peace Prize for “saving millions of lives not only in South Asia but also in the Middle East”.

After missing out on the Nobel Peace Prize, Trump has claimed to have resolved eight wars, including the one between India and Pakistan, saying, he did not do this for the Nobel.

Trump has been claiming to resolve seven conflicts till now, including the one between India and Pakistan. However, he has now increased that figure to eight after adding the Israel-Gaza conflict.

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 dozens of times that he “helped settle” the conflict between India and Pakistan.

India has consistently maintained 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.

India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the April 22 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.