Deceptive Diplomacy

Trump's claim of brokering the India-Pakistan ceasefire appears more like political theatre than diplomatic fact—likely driven by failed efforts for peace-making elsewhere

- PRABHU DAYAL

A question is being asked in India as to how President Trump was able to announce the ceasefire before anyone else did? What was America's role in the matter? No doubt, amid the heightened tensions between India and Pakistan, senior US leaders held multiple high-level conversations with their Indian and Pakistani counterparts. Despite this, Indian government sources have repeatedly stressed that the ceasefire was negotiated directly between New Delhi and Islamabad. Why is Trump trying to take credit when India has repeatedly rejected his claim? Trump's stubborn insistence is because he is trying to reinforce his image of a peacemaker which has taken a beating. As John Bolton, Trump's former National Security Advisor stated, "It's nothing personal to India. This is Donald Trump, who takes credit for everything." Bolton appears to be correct in his assessment of Trump's behavior. Since Trump's much touted efforts to end the wars between Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas have not yielded any real results till now, the India-Pakistan conflict and the ceasefire gave Trump a much-needed chance to restate his claim that he is a peacemaker 'par excellence'.

It may be recalled that during his campaign, Trump said repeatedly that he would be able to end the war between Russia and Ukraine "in 24 hours" upon taking office. However, Trump changed his tone since becoming President for a second term, perhaps because he realized the difficulties involved. On March 14 this year, he said that he was "being a little bit sarcastic" when he repeatedly claimed as a candidate that he would have the Russia-Ukraine war solved within 24 hours. The Ukraine-Russia war has intensified, taking an increasingly dangerous and destructive course as peace talks appear to have reached a dead end.