In a recent interview with Fox News, U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated his claim of playing a pivotal role in defusing escalating tensions between India and Pakistan, which he suggested were on the brink of a nuclear conflict. Referring to the potential for a nuclear confrontation, Trump used the term “N-word,” clarifying that he meant “nuclear,” not the racial slur commonly associated with the phrase. He described the situation as one of “great hatred” and emphasized that his diplomatic intervention helped prevent a catastrophic outcome.
Notably, Trump and the US administration’s claims on brokering the ceasefire have been denied by the Indian government indirectly in an official statement. The Indian government and the Indian Army maintained that the ceasefire understanding was reached through bilateral talks between the DGsMO of India and Pakistan.
Trump’s ‘N’ word remark on the India-Pakistan conflict
The US President claimed that the tensions between India and Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack escalated dangerously and were close to reaching the point of a nuclear conflict.
“It was getting deeper. Everyone was stronger, stronger to a point where the next one was gonna be, you know what… the n word,” Trump said during the interview.
“You know what the n word is, right? It’s the N word. That’s a very nasty word, right? In a lot of ways. The n word used in a nuclear sense.”
The Trump administration’s offer to mediate between India and Pakistan on the longstanding Kashmir issue was earlier met with a strong pushback, after which Washington backed “direct bilateral communication.
External affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India’s long-standing position has been that any issues related to Jammu and Kashmir “have to be addressed by India and Pakistan bilaterally”.
Operation Sindoor
Under Operation Sindoor, India neutralised over 100 terrorists linked to groups such as Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and Hizbul Mujahideen in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir through precision strikes.
After India’s precision strikes on these terror camps, Pakistan escalated the conflict with cross-border shelling and attempted drone attacks on India’s military bases, prompting retaliatory Indian strikes on Pakistani radar stations, airfields, and communication hubs.