New Delhi, June 20 -- "I love Pakistan," said US President Donald Trump this week, quickly following up with another flourish: "I stopped the war." He was referring to the ceasefire that followed India's Operation Sindoor, implying that his intervention averted an escalation between two nuclear powers.

In a country where "I love New York" or "I love Boston" merchandise is part of pop-cultural retail tradition, it is perhaps the first time that a sitting American president has publicly professed such open affection-not for a US city but for a foreign nation, and one long entangled with terror networks and given to military overreach.

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Indian Prime Minister Narendr...