Trump says Pak PM Shehbaz told him millions would have died without his intervention

US President Donald Trump has said that Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif told him that 35 million people would have died if it were not for his intervention in stopping the war between India and Pakistan.

In his over 100-minute State of the Union address on Tuesday, Trump repeated his claim that he had helped prevent what could have escalated into a nuclear war between the two South Asian neighbours.

“In my first 10 months, I ended eight wars... including Pakistan and India, which would have been a nuclear war. Thirty-five million people, said the Prime Minister of Pakistan, would have died if it were not for my involvement,” Trump said.

He has previously made similar claims, stating that Sharif credited him with saving millions of lives by helping end the conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbours. On earlier occasions, Trump cited lower figures, including 25 million and later 10 million lives.

Trump has repeatedly claimed credit for stopping the conflict — an assertion he has made about 100 times since May 10 last year, when he announced on social media that India and Pakistan had agreed to a “full and immediate” ceasefire after a “long night” of talks mediated by Washington.

India has consistently denied any third-party intervention.

In his address, Trump also listed other conflicts he claimed to have helped resolve, including Cambodia and Thailand, Kosovo and Serbia, Israel and Iran, Egypt and Ethiopia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, the Congo and Rwanda, and the war in Gaza, which he said was now proceeding “at a very low level”.

He said the US was restoring security at home and abroad. “We're proudly restoring safety for Americans at home and we are also restoring security for Americans abroad. Our country has never been stronger,” Trump said in his second State of the Union address of his second term in the White House.

At one point, some Democratic lawmakers interrupted his speech, prompting Trump to respond, “Isn't it funny? Sick people.”