Trump Cites India-Pak Conflict, Proposes New Law Named For Accident Involving Indian Trucker

WASHINGTON DC- President Donald Trump reiterated his claim of having ended eight wars, asserting that the Prime Minister of Pakistan would have died had he not intervened during the recent ‘Operation Sindoor’ launched by India.

Giving his State of the Union address on February 24, Trump said, “First ten months, I ended eight wars, including Cambodia and Thailand, Pakistan and India, we would have been a nuclear war. 35 million people said the Prime Minister of Pakistan would have died if it were not for my involvement.” Listing other conflicts he said he had resolved, Trump added: “Kosovo and Serbia, Israel and Iran, Egypt and Ethiopia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, Congo and Rwanda and of course the war in Gaza.” A few months earlier, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had told Trump that 35 million Pakistanis would have been killed during Operation Sindoor had he not stepped in.

The President also claimed success in reducing drug prices. “I am also ending the wildly inflated cost of prescription drugs. Other presidents tried to do it, but they never could. They were all talk and no action. I got it done,” he said. The Affordable Care Act, referred to as Obamacare, is known to rankle him.

He blamed immigrants for all crime and singled out the Somali community for having “pillaged an estimated $19 billion from the American taxpayer.” He accused Democrats of cutting funding. “As we speak, Democrats in this chamber have cut off all funding for the Department of Homeland Security. They have closed the agency responsible for protecting Americans from terrorists and murderers,” he said.

Trump has called for a federal law barring states from issuing commercial driver’s licenses to people living illegally in the United States, citing a truck accident involving an illegal migrant from India in which a young child was seriously injured. Trump said, “I’m calling on Congress to pass a law that we will call ‘The Dalilah Law’, barring any state from granting commercial driver’s licenses to illegal aliens.” The proposed law is named after Dalilah Coleman, the child injured in the crash. Dalilah was present in the public gallery during the address and received a standing ovation when Trump called her up. Her father, Marcus Coleman, held her up as lawmakers applauded.

Referring to her recovery, Trump said doctors had earlier warned that “Delilah would never be able to walk or talk (or) have a good life, she wouldn’t be able to eat again.” He described her as an “inspiration” and added that she “is now in the first grade, learning to walk.” Without naming the driver or his country of origin, Trump said, “The driver was an illegal alien let in by Joe Biden and given a commercial driver’s license by open borders politicians in California.”

The US Department of Homeland Security later identified the driver as Partap Singh, who came from India and entered the United States through Mexico in October 2022. The accident occurred in California in June 2024, when the 18-wheeler truck Singh was driving allegedly failed to stop in a construction zone while travelling at high speed, triggering a multi-vehicle crash that injured several people.

During his remarks, Trump also argued that “most illegal aliens do not speak English and cannot read even the most basic road signs as to direction, speed, danger or location.” The Homeland Security Department said that at least three other illegal migrants from India have been involved in trucking crashes in the United States and are currently facing deportation proceedings. (with IANS inputs)