US President Trump claims India, Pakistan have fought over Kashmir for 1,500 years

US President Donald Trump has claimed that India and Pakistan have been “fighting for 1,500 years” over Kashmir, amid the recent rise in tensions between the two rival South Asian nations.

Last week, an attack in Pahalgam in Indian-occupied Kashmir killed 26 people, with Indian tourists being the primary targets in the shooting claimed by the Resistance Front group, which India claims is linked to and supported by Pakistan.

Although Islamabad denied the accusations and any involvement in the attack, New Delhi took a number of inflammatory steps against its neighbour, including revoking visas for Pakistani nationals, closing major border crossings, and, most controversially, suspending the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty – a key agreement ensuring the flow of water from Indian-occupied territory to Pakistan.

READ: India, Pakistan take reciprocal measures as tensions escalate after Kashmir attack

The rise in tensions have threatened to reach dangerous heights, with many worried it could lead to a resurgence in armed conflict between India and Pakistan, particularly after Islamabad warned New Delhi that suspending the water agreement would be seen as an “act of war”.

Amid those developments, US President Trump was asked by reporters on Friday whether he would talk with and mediate between the Indian and Pakistani governments, to which he responded that “I am very close to India and I’m very close to Pakistan, as you know. And they’ve had that fight for 1,000 years in Kashmir. Kashmir has been going on for 1,500 years, probably longer than that.”

Trump : I am very close to both India & Pakistan, this problem of Kashmir exist for 1000 years, they will manage

There was no Pakistan before 78 years & he is talking about 1000 years. I think he also read history from BJPs WhatsApp University 🤡

pic.twitter.com/CivtuxgX1V

— 𝗩eena Jain (@DrJain21) April 26, 2025

Trump’s comments have since been ridiculed by many as a gaffe, particularly due to the fact that the establishment of Pakistan and the partition of the Indian subcontinent took place in 1947. That was barely 78 years ago, in contrast to the president’s remarks of the conflict over Kashmir being 1,500-years-old, making it historically impossible.