New Delhi, February 28: Did United States President Donald Trump played the peacemaker between India and Pakistan to de-escalate the fresh round of confrontation between the two subcontinental neighbours? According to a section of Indian experts, Trump effect was evident as Islamabad agreed to release the detained IAF pilot within four hours after he hinted a positive news.
Addressing the press in Vietnam on Thursday following his summit with North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-un, the US President said he has spoken to both India and Pakistan in a bid to end the decades of hostility between the two nations.
“We have, I think, reasonably attractive news from Pakistan and India. We have been going at it. We have been involved and trying to help them stop," Trump said.
"It has been going on for a long time, decades and decades. There is a lot of dislike, unfortunately. So we have been in the middle, trying to help them both out so that we can get some organisation and some peace, probably that is going to be happening," the US President added.
Trump's claim to have intervened in the Indo-Pak conflict also comes a day after India's National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval spoke to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, following the detention of an Indian Wing Commander by Pakistan.
The IAF personnel landed across the border following an aerial engagement, in which one MiG-21 was shot down by Pakistan. Notably, the IAF's action was in retaliation to the violation of Indian airspace by the Pakistani Air Force.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 28, 2019 07:12 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).