Pakistanis are brilliant people, no one can overlook them: Trump

Days after announcing that the United States (US) had mediated a ceasefire between Pakistan and India as tensions ran alarmingly high between the nuclear-armed neighbours, President Donald Trump has gone on to praise the Pakistanis as “brilliant people” and said that “no one can overlook them”.

“They are brilliant people,” Trump said in an interview with US-based Fox News, adding that Pakistanis couldn’t be forgotten or overlooked because it took “two to tango”.

The US president’s statements came a week after his announcement that Washington had successfully averted what could have been a nuclear war between Pakistan and India. The military confrontation between the two countries had come as New Delhi blamed Islamabad for an attack on tourists in held Kashmir’s Pahalgam area.

On the night of May 6-7, India had launched a series of airstrikes in Punjab and Azad Kashmir, resulting in civilian casualties. The move had resulted in a decisive response by Pakistan which saw the downing of at least five Indian jets and damage to multiple military targets across the border.

As tit-for-tat strikes continued, American intervention had pushed both sides to finally drop their guns with President Trump on May 10 announcing that a ceasefire had been reached.

“The situation had escalated to the point where nuclear war could have broken out,” Trump said Friday.

The US president added that he had great conversations with Pakistan and the country would love to trade with the US. “They are brilliant people. They make amazing products. We don’t do enough trading with them.”

On trade with New Delhi, Trump said that India was one of the highly tariffed nations, making it almost “impossible to do business”. However, India is ready to cut 100 per cent of its tariffs for the US, he added.

The interview was the third time in a week that President Trump expressed his intentions of deepening trade ties with Pakistan and India.

“We’re going to do a lot of trade with Pakistan […] and India,” Trump said earlier this week, recalling that he warned both countries of “not doing any trade” if they did not stop fighting.

A day after the ceasefire, he said he was going “to increase trade substantially with both of these great nations”.

During Friday’s interview, Trump also said that mediating a ceasefire between Pakistan and India was a “bigger success” than he’ll ever be given credit for. “Those are major nuclear powers. Those are not like a little bit, and they were angry.”