United Nations: US President Donald Trump on Tuesday, September 22, repeated his claim that he settled the war between India and Pakistan last year, as he addressed world leaders at the UN General Assembly.
“Since I took office, it has been my great honour to settle eight wars, and in so doing, become friendly with the leaders of many of those countries. It was a great honour to do it. Numerous of these wars have gone on for many years and even decades,” Trump said in his address to the General Debate of the 81st session of the UNGA.
He said the reason he was able to “make these settlements” was the use of his “very special relationships”, trade, use and threat of tariffs, and various other reasons depending on the country.
“Among them, terms of settlement, Cambodia and Thailand, Kosovo and Serbia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, Pakistan and India, Armenia and Azerbaijan, and of course the war in Gaza, which, as I stated previously, includes the return of all hostages, both living and dead,” Trump said.
He added that all these countries wrote him a “letter of thank you”.
“The Prime Minister of Pakistan, terrific man, said that Donald Trump was responsible for saving 30 million lives and probably many more than that,” the US President said.
Trump has consistently claimed credit for stopping the conflict between India and Pakistan, an assertion he has repeated since May 10 last year, when he announced on social media that India and Pakistan agreed to a “full and immediate” ceasefire after a “long night” of talks mediated by Washington.
India has denied third-party intervention
India has been consistently maintaining 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 has denied any third-party intervention.
In his address to the high-level UNGA session last year as well, Trump had declared that he had stopped the conflict between India and Pakistan, as he had lashed out at the world organisation for its failure to “even try to help” in ending the conflicts.
First Lady Melania Trump, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer were sitting in the UNGA listening to Trump’s address.
‘Working with Russia-Ukraine leaders to end conflict’
Trump said his administration is “working very closely” with the leaders of Russia and Ukraine to end that conflict.
“We will get that one done. It’s going to happen, I think, more quickly than people understand,” he said.
Trump also said that last week he signed a powerful new law, passed by Congress, in honour of Senator Lindsey Graham that provided him with enormous new tariff authorities. “If necessary, I will use them,” he added.
The Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 authorises the US President to impose steep tariffs of up to 100 per cent on the top five importers of crude oil and gas from Moscow, including China and India, contending that the trade has been a key source for funding the war in Ukraine.
“We continue to seek an end to the disastrous war between Russia and Ukraine, which is killing tens of thousands of people per month,” Trump said.
“It is time to stop the killing,” he said.
India has said it remains firmly committed to ensuring energy security for its 1.4 billion people, and it will continue to do so through diversified sourcing, in response to the US’ Russia sanctions legislation.
‘Big decision to make on Iran’
Trump lambasted Iran, asserting that it will never allow the country to have nuclear weapons. He said he will “have a big decision to make” regarding Iran.
“As president of the most extraordinary nation in history,” Trump said. “I have no interest in leaving dangers to grow for another day. I do not believe in letting problems fester,” he said.
“Will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before, maybe one of the greatest in the Middle East or even the world? Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again?
“Do I drive them into hell with no chance of survival and no hope of future greatness or generations? But I believe we’ll make a deal right after the election, because it doesn’t make sense for them not to; they’re waiting to see how I do in the midterm election. What they don’t realise is that I’m not running. I did that already and won in a landslide,” Trump said.
Iranian delegation walks out
As US President Donald Trump began to describe the last six months of on-and-off military strikes against Iran, the delegation of Iranians at the UN General Assembly began to walk out, with only one person remaining seated.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi are in New York for the annual meeting but didn’t arrive in the General Assembly hall for Trump’s speech.
Instead, lower level staff and delegates were seated when he began to speak, only to leave 10 minutes into his speech.
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