ISLAMABAD: US President Donald Trump praised Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Defense Forces Field Marshal Asim Munir during a speech in Washington on Thursday.
Speaking at the inaugural meeting of the Board of Peace at the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace, the US President described Field Marshal Munir as “a tough man, a good fighter, serious fighter,” adding, “I like good fighters actually.”
Trump said he intervened during a military confrontation between Pakistan and India, which he said could have cost “25 million lives.”
He described the conflict as “intense”, stating that the “war was raging [and] planes were being shot down.”
“Prime Minister Sharif, I like this man, of Pakistan. There was some fighting going on when I got to know him and your Field Marshal, great general, great Field Marshal, great guy,” Trump said.
He recalled PM Sharif telling White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles that Trump had “saved 25 million lives when he stopped the war between India and Pakistan.”
The US President said that 11 jets were shot down during the fighting.
He also praised PM Sharif and the Field Marshal for their cooperation in preventing a larger conflict in the region.
“I think we will always be able to settle up with them. It’s a lot of progress that’s made even in the relationship. They are all great men, and I was very proud of it,” Trump said.
US, others pledge billions
Trump also reflected on his first year in office, saying he had “settled eight wars and I think a ninth to come,” and called the Board of Peace “one of the most important and consequential things I think that I’ll be involved in.”
While the US pledged $10 billion, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, the UAE, Morocco, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, and Kuwait have pledged more than $7 billion to relief efforts.
“We work together to ensure the brighter future of Gaza, the Middle East and the entire world,” Trump said. He added that “there is nothing more important than peace” and that going to war is “a hundred times” more expensive than peace.
Troops pledged
Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-majority country, will take a deputy commander role in a nascent International Stabilization Force in Gaza and Morocco will contribute troops, the unit's American chief said Thursday, reported AFP.
"I have offered and Indonesia has accepted the position of deputy commander for the ISF," Major General Jasper Jeffers announced at the Board of Peace meeting attended, among other world leaders, by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto.
Indonesia has said it is ready to send up to 8,000 troops to Gaza if the force is confirmed. The force aims to have 20,000 soldiers and a new police force.
Jeffers confirmed that Morocco had also agreed to send troops, marking the first commitment by an Arab country, along with Albania, Kazakhstan, and Kosovo.
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