Washington: In a major claim during his 2026 State of the Union address, President Donald Trump claimed that his administration prevented a nuclear conflict between India and Pakistan and suggested that Shehbaz Sharif would not have survived without US involvement.

Addressing a joint session of Congress, Trump said, "... In my first 10 months, I ended eight wars... Pakistan and India would have had a nuclear war. 35 million people said the Prime Minister of Pakistan would have died if it were not for my involvement..."

The US President reiterated that he had helped halt multiple global conflicts, including the four-day India-Pakistan military confrontation in May last year.

Also read | ‘India, Pakistan, think of all wars I ended’: Trump repeats claim, seeks Nobel Prize | WATCH

Post-Pahalgam terror attack in April of 2024, in which 26 people were killed. India, in response to the attack, launched precise attacks on Pakistan's terrorist infrastructure under Operation Sindoor.

India has consistently refuted Trump's claims, stating that the ceasefire was achieved bilaterally through the Director Generals of Military Operations (DGMOs), without third-party involvement.

During the inaugural Board of Peace meeting, Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif also showered praises on Trump for his mediation in the conflict, calling him a "man of peace" and "saviour of people of South Asia."

"Your timely and very effective intervention to achieve a ceasefire between India and Pakistan potentially averted the loss of millions of people's lives. You have truly proved to be a man of peace and let me say you are turly saviour of the people of South Asia," Shehbaz Sharif said.

Tariffs key to ‘stunning economic turnaround’

Trump also mounted a strong defence of his sweeping tariff policy, describing it as central to what he called a historic economic revival.

Speaking before lawmakers, he credited trade levies with strengthening domestic industry, boosting revenues and forcing trading partners to renegotiate agreements.

He criticised a recent ruling by the Supreme Court of the United States that struck down several of his tariff measures, calling it "very unfortunate."

Also read | ‘Totally wrong’: Trump trivialises Supreme Court tariff blow in State of the Union

"Just four days ago, an unfortunate ruling from the United States Supreme Court. Very unfortunate ruling, but the good news is that almost all countries and corporations want to keep the deal that they already made. Knowing that the legal power that I, as President, have to make a new deal could be far worse for them, and therefore, they will continue to work along the same successful path that we had negotiated before the Supreme Court's unfortunate involvement," Trump said.

He added, "Countries that were ripping us off for decades are now paying us hundreds of billions of dollars... And yet these countries are now happy, and so are we. We made deals. The deals are all done, and they're happy... There was no inflation, tremendous growth, and the big story was how Donald Trump called the economy correctly, and 22 Nobel Prize winners in economics didn't. They got it totally wrong. They got it really wrong. And then just four days ago, an unfortunate ruling from the United States Supreme Court. It just came down. Very unfortunate ruling but the good news is that almost all countries and corporations want to keep the deal that they already made," he added.