Trump cites India–Pakistan peace deal in new US national security blueprint

New Delhi,UPDATED: Dec 6, 2025 02:15 IST

The Trump administration’s new Security Strategy has revived a familiar and disputed claim: that President Donald Trump personally negotiated peace between India and Pakistan. New Delhi has repeatedly denied any such mediation, insisting the two neighbours do not accept third-party involvement in bilateral issues.

The 33-page strategy document, signed by Trump and released late Thursday, again credits the US president with brokering a ceasefire between India and Pakistan and preventing what it describes as a potential nuclear conflict. The report labels him the President of Peace for claiming breakthroughs in eight global disputes, including a supposed peace deal between Islamabad and New Delhi.

According to the document, Trump brought India and Pakistan back from nuclear conflict by mediating the May 10 ceasefire agreement, a version of events dismissed in India. It also lists conflicts in Cambodia, Thailand, Kosovo, Serbia, the DRC, Rwanda, Israel, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, Armenia and Azerbaijan as part of Trump’s self-declared peacemaking portfolio. The document also claims the Gaza war ended under his watch with all hostages returned.

INDIA CENTRAL TO US INDO-PACIFIC STRATEGY

Beyond the disputed assertions, the US strategy outlines Washington’s long-term foreign policy priorities, placing India at the centre of America’s Indo-Pacific plans. It argues that the US must deepen commercial ties with New Delhi and sustain cooperation within the Quad alongside Australia and Japan, reports news agency PTI.

Stronger partnerships with India, it says, are essential to counter security challenges in the South China Sea, a region the report warns could be exploited by a rival power to disrupt global commerce.

“This document is a roadmap to ensure that America remains the greatest and most successful nation in human history,” Trump says in a message included in the report, adding that his administration aims to make the country “safer, richer, freer and more powerful than ever before.”

The strategy stresses closer alignment with European and Asian partners, including India, to reinforce US positions in the Western Hemisphere and in critical mineral supply chains across Africa. It highlights Trump’s 2025 visits to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE as examples of deepening global partnerships driven by American technology and investment.

The report calls for building coalitions that use the US edge in finance and technology to shape export markets and reduce structural imbalances with trading partners. It also warns that control of the South China Sea by any competitor could jeopardise global trade and US economic interests, urging investment in naval capabilities and broader regional cooperation.

While the document promotes an ambitious foreign-policy vision, its repeated claim that Trump delivered peace between India and Pakistan is likely to draw another firm rejection from New Delhi, which has consistently maintained there was no mediation, no deal and no third-party role.

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With inputs from PTI

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