Donald Trump seemed to say on Tuesday that he spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi hours before India and Pakistan agreed to stop hostilities during Operation Sindoor, the US President’s claim flying in the face of assertions from the Modi government that no foreign leader had told India to stop its military offensive.

Trump’s latest bombshell came in an over three hour video-recorded cabinet meeting in which he also seemed to say that India lost some of its most expensive fighter aircraft.

Trump said the Russia Ukraine war would have become a world war if he had not been elected, “just like India and Pakistan were going to end up in a nuclear war if I didn't stop them.”

Then he described the sequence of events, according to him.

“You know it was sort of strange. I saw they were fighting. Then I saw seven jets were shot down. I said that's not good. That's a lot of jets. You know $150-million planes were shot down. A lot of them. Seven. Maybe more than that. They didn't even report the real number.”

Only India’s most advanced fighter jet, the French-built Rafale, can cost around that figure per jet. Pakistan’s Chinese made JF-17 Thunders and old US made F-16 Fighting Falcons are much cheaper.

“And I'm talking to a very terrific man, Modi of India,” Trump continued. “And I say, what's going on with you in Pakistan? Then I'm talking to Pakistan on trade. I said what's going on with you in India? And the hatred was tremendous.

“Now this has been going on for a hell of a long time, sometimes with different names, for hundreds of years. But I said what's going on? I said, I don't want to make a trade deal. No, no, no. We want to make trade deal. I said, No, no. I don't want to make a trade deal with you. You're going to have a nuclear war. You guys are going to end up in a nuclear war.

“And that was very important to them. I said, Call me back tomorrow, but we're not going to do any deals with you. Or we're going to put tariffs on you that are so high.”

Trump said US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick was present.

“You were there, Howard, right? We’re going to put tariffs on you that are so high, I don't give a damn. Your head's going to spit. You're not going to end up in a war.”

He added: “Within about five hours it was done. It was done. No, maybe it starts again. I don't know. I don't think so, but I'll stop it…”

Trump has repeatedly claimed credit since May 10, when he announced that New Delhi and Islamabad had agreed to a “full and immediate” ceasefire after a “long night” of talks that he claimed were mediated by Washington.

By his own count, he has made similar assertions more than 40 times, often linking them to his use of tariffs as leverage.

India has consistently dismissed the suggestion of external mediation.

Prime Minister Modi told Parliament last month that no leader had asked India to halt its military operations. Defence minister Rajnath Singh and Union home minister Amit Shah have echoed this.

External affairs minister S. Jaishankar, in a July 28 Lok Sabha debate on Operation Sindoor, categorically said: “There was no call between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump between April 22 and June 17.”

He added that India had acted on its own strategic calculations: “We told world leaders about our zero-tolerance stance on terrorism. We have the right to defend ourselves.”