US President Donald Trump has reiterated his claim that he prevented a “nuclear war” between India and Pakistan, asserting for the first time that Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif told him 35 million people would have died during India’s Operation Sindoor had he not intervened.

Speaking during his first State of the Union address of his second term, Trump said he had ended eight wars in his first 10 months in office. “Pakistan and India would have had a nuclear war. Thirty-five million people, said the Prime Minister of Pakistan, would have died if it were not for my involvement,” he claimed.

What did Sharif allegedly say?

According to Trump, Sharif conveyed that casualties could have reached 35 million during Operation Sindoor without US intervention. The US President did not provide additional details or evidence to support the claim.

Operation Sindoor was launched by India on May 7 last year following the April 22 terrorist attack in Pahalgam that killed 26 tourists. Indian forces targeted infrastructure linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

What is India’s stance on Trump’s ceasefire claims?

India has consistently rejected assertions of third-party mediation. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar earlier dismissed Trump’s claims, remarking that the US “was in the United States” during the conflict.

New Delhi maintains that the ceasefire understanding followed direct military-level communication. According to Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, Pakistan’s Director General of Military Operations contacted his Indian counterpart via the hotline, leading to an agreement to halt hostilities.

Broader context

Trump has repeatedly cited India-Pakistan tensions among a list of global conflicts he says he resolved, including disputes involving Israel and Hamas, Serbia and Kosovo, and Armenia and Azerbaijan.

His latest remarks have drawn attention because Pakistan had previously nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize, crediting his diplomatic intervention for de-escalation. India, however, continues to assert that the ceasefire was achieved bilaterally, without external mediation.