Did Trump Really Broker A Ceasefire Between India-Pakistan? His Mixed Messages, 25% Tariff On India Raise Questions

President Donald Trup on Wednesday announced that US will impose 25% tariff on Indian imports in addition to a penality which hed did not specify in his Truth Social Post.

POTUS made the announcement a day before the impeding August , tariff deadline claiming that India is one of the highest tariff nation and US had a huge trade deficit with New Delhi.

“India’s own protectionist policies over the years have meant America has done relatively little business with them,” Trump wrote.

He also took aim at India buying Russian oil and defence equipments, saying, “they have always bought a vast majority of their military equipment from Russia, and are Russia’s largest buyer of ENERGY, along with China, at a time when everyone wants Russia to STOP THE KILLING IN UKRAINE — ALL THINGS NOT GOOD!”

Trump did not elaborate on what the “penalty” would involve beyond the already announced 25% tariff hike.

Also Read:  Donald Trump Imposes 25% Tariff On India, Penalty for Russian Oil Purchase

Donald Trump Claimed He Brokered Indi-Pakistan Ceasefir For Trade Deal But There Is No Trade Deal – Was He Lying?

Just days earlier, on Monday, Trump reiterated his claim that he had prevented a war between India and Pakistan by threatening to pull out of trade negotiations.

“I know the leaders of Pakistan and India. I know them very well,” Trump said. “And they’re in the midst of a trade deal, and yet they’re talking about nuclear weapons… this is crazy. So, I said I’m not doing a trade deal with you guys. And they want the trade deal, they need it.”

“When they start using nuclear weapons, that stuff blows all over the place and really bad things happen. So maybe we’re being a little selfish when we want to save wars too. But we stopped a lot of wars and it’s a great honour to have done it,” he added.

According to Trump, the mere threat of halting trade talks helped secure peace between the two South Asian rivals.

India Rejects Donald Trump’s Trade Deal For Ceasefire Claim

India has repeatedly denied any U.S. role in facilitating the ceasefire with Pakistan. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, addressing the Lok Sabha on Monday, dismissed Trump’s claims outright, clarifying that no telephonic communication had taken place between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Trump during the key months of April to June.

“There was no call between PM Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump from April 22, when Trump called up to convey sympathy, and to June 17, when he called up PM in Canada to explain why he couldn’t meet him,” Jaishankar said.

The May 10 ceasefire between India and Pakistan, according to Indian officials, was entirely bilateral. The truce was initiated after Pakistan’s Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) reached out to his Indian counterpart, and not due to any external mediation, despite Trump’s public claims.

How 25% Tariff Imposition Contradicts Trump’s Ceasefire-for-Trade Narrative

The imposition of a 25% tariff on India, without any accompanying trade deal, undermines Trump’s narrative that a ceasefire was achieved in exchange for progress on trade. With no agreement in place, Trump’s claims appear inconsistent with his claims.

Critics have pointed out that the tariffs themselves reveal the absence of any trade-linked ceasefire deal.

“Implicit in Trump’s 25%+ tariffs is that he lied about India agreeing to a ceasefire with Pakistan in return for a trade deal. Since there is no deal, it obviously means there was no such offer or agreement,” a social media user wrote on X.

Also Read: Donald Trump Announces 25% Tariff On India: What It Means For India-US Trade, Defense Ties