US President Donald Trump expressed admiration for India and its leadership while addressing world leaders at a peace summit in Egypt. The event came shortly after the start of the hostage-prisoner swap under the Gaza ceasefire agreement.
“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, directing his remarks toward Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who was also in attendance.
Since May 10, Trump has repeatedly credited himself for mediating peace between India and Pakistan. He earlier announced on social media that both countries had agreed to a “full and immediate” ceasefire after what he described as a “long night” of negotiations facilitated by Washington. Trump has since stated multiple times that he “helped settle” the dispute between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.
Sharif praises Trump’s peace role
While India has firmly denied Trump’s role in ending hostilities with Pakistan, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif publicly expressed gratitude to the US president.
“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,” Sharif said.
He added that he intended 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.”
Modi welcomes hostage release, supports peace efforts
Reacting to the Gaza hostage release, Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised the development and acknowledged the role played by Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Modi said, “We welcome the release of all hostages after over two years of captivity. Their freedom stands as a tribute to the courage of their families, the unwavering peace efforts of President Trump and the strong resolve of Prime Minister Netanyahu. We support President Trump’s sincere efforts to bring peace to the region,” he wrote in a post on X.
The statement reflected India’s support for continued diplomatic efforts toward stability in the Middle East and beyond.