New York/Washington- US President Donald Trump on Monday described his use of tariffs as a measure to stop wars, and said that his communication to India and Pakistan during the recent conflict was“very effective”, repeating his claim of ending the battle between the nuclear-armed neighbours using trade.

“Tariffs are very important for the United States. We are a peacekeeper because of tariffs. Not only do we make hundreds of billions of dollars, but we're a peacekeeper because of tariffs,” Trump said in the Oval Office on Monday.

The US president said that if he did not use the“power of tariffs”, four wars would still be raging.

“I use tariffs to stop wars. If you look at India and Pakistan, they were ready to go at it. Seven planes were shot down. They were ready to go at it. And they are nuclear powers.

“And I don't want to say exactly what I said, but what I said was very effective. They stopped. And that was based on tariffs. It was based on trade,” he said.

India has consistently denied any third-party intervention. India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the April 22 Pahalgam attack that killed 26 civilians.

India and Pakistan reached an understanding on May 10 to end the conflict after four days of intense cross-border drone and missile strikes.

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