President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he is “doing a trade deal with India” as the US works on similar agreements around the world to balance relationships based on reciprocity.

After noting that he had signed “groundbreaking agreements” with Malaysia, Cambodia, and Japan during his ongoing visit to Asia, Trump told the APEC CEO Summit in South Korea: “I’m doing a trade deal with India, and I have great respect and love, as you know, for Prime Minister Modi; we have a great relationship.”

Trump also repeated his claims about using trade to end the hostilities between India and Pakistan in May at the business summit in Gyeongju, South Korea, attended by global CEOs, experts, and senior economic leaders.

Trump’s remarks came against the backdrop of renewed contacts between Indian and US officials in recent weeks to revive negotiations on a bilateral trade agreement. Talks on the trade deal stalled after Trump hit Indian goods with 25% reciprocal tariffs in the summer, and followed it up with a 25% penalty over Russian oil purchases.

Discussions resumed after US assistant trade representative Brendan Lynch held talks with Indian officials in New Delhi on September 16, and this was followed by a visit by US ambassador-designate Sergio Gor, a close aide of Trump, who met Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The trade discussions also figured in recent visits to the US by external affairs minister S Jaishankar and commerce minister Piyush Goyal.

Noting that “economic security is national security”, Trump contended the “global trading system was broken and in urgent need of reform”. He added: “Around the world, we’re signing one trade deal after another to balance our relationships on the basis of reciprocity.”

Trump said the trade agreements “will be incredible victories for all of us because everyone is better off when we have stable partnerships not plagued by chronic problems and imbalances”.

Trump also repeated his claims about ending eight wars in eight months, and contended that he used the threat of 250% tariffs to get India and Pakistan to stop fighting within 48 hours.

There was no immediate response from Indian officials, though New Delhi has already dismissed Trump’s claims about brokering a ceasefire with Pakistan to end four days of intense hostilities in May.

“And if it weren’t for the tariffs – I said I was going to put 250% tariffs on each country, which means that you’ll never do business, and in other words, there’s nothing you can sell for 250%,” Trump told the business summit.

“That means that’s a nice way of saying we don’t want to do business with you. That’s a nasty [way] – we don’t wanna do business with you – no, you say you’re gonna put 250% tariffs if you don’t stop the war, and they understood that,” he said. “And within 48 hours, we had no war, no people killed. It makes me feel so good. We saved millions and millions of lives with all of them.”

The four-day conflict between India and Pakistan, triggered when the Indian military targeted terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan on May 7 in retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack in April, took up most of the section of Trump’s speech devoted to his claims of stopping eight wars. He contended trade played a “big part” in ending all these wars.

Trump also lauded Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir. “You know why he’s a field marshal? He’s a great fighter, he really is; he’s a great guy too. So, I know them all, and I’m reading that seven planes were shot down…It’s a big thing, these are two nuclear nations, and they’re really going at it,” he said.

“And I called Prime Minister Modi, and I said we can’t make a trade deal with you. ‘No, no, we must make a trade deal.’ I said, no, we can’t, you’re starting a war with Pakistan, we’re not gonna do it,” Trump said. “Then I called Pakistan, I said we’re not gonna do trade with you because you’re fighting with India…They said, ‘No, no, no, you should let us fight.’ They both said that. You know, they’re warring, they’ve strong people.”

Trump gave no details about these phone calls to the Indian and Pakistani leaders, or when they were made.

“Prime Minister Modi is the nicest looking guy, he says oh, and he looks like, you’d like to have your father like. He’s a killer, he’s tough as hell. ‘No, we will fight’,” Trump said in an exaggerated manner about the PM’s purported response to him. “I said whoa, is this the same man that I know, but after a little while – they’re good people, and after literally two days, they called up and they said, we understand, and then they stopped fighting.”

The American leader’s failure to observe diplomatic conventions and niceties about phone conversations and private discussions has emerged as a key concern for the Indian side, according to people familiar with the matter. Two countries involved in a phone call between leaders often coordinate on what is to be released to the media regarding the conversation, but this is hardly the norm with conversations with the US leader, the people said.

The Indian side made it clear during a phone call between Modi and Trump on June 17 that the understanding to end military actions on May 10 was reached solely by Indian and Pakistani military officials, and there was no discussion, at any level, on an India-US trade deal, or any proposal for mediation by the US.

Trump was the first leader to announce the halting of military operations between India and Pakistan on social media, before official statements were issued by both countries. Sharif’s government subsequently nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize for his purported efforts in stopping the hostilities.