The U.S. State Department stated on Sunday (April 27, 2025) Washington was in touch with each India and Pakistan whereas urging them to work in direction of what it referred to as a “responsible solution” as tensions have risen between the 2 nations following a current terrorist assault in Kashmir’s Pahalgam.
In public, the U.S. authorities has expressed assist for India after the assault however has not criticised Pakistan.
Follow Pahalgam terror assault updates on April 28
“This is an evolving situation and we are monitoring developments closely. We have been in touch with the governments of India and Pakistan at multiple levels,” a U.S. State Department spokesperson advised Reuters in an emailed assertion.
“The United States encourages all parties to work together towards a responsible resolution,” the spokesperson added.
The State Department spokesperson additionally stated Washington “stands with India and strongly condemns the terrorist attack in Pahalgam,” reiterating feedback much like current ones made by President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance.
India is an more and more necessary U.S. associate as Washington goals to counter China’s rising affect in Asia whereas Pakistan stays a U.S. ally whilst its significance for Washington has diminished after the 2021 U.S. withdrawal from neighbouring Afghanistan.
Michael Kugelman, a Washington-based South Asia analyst and author for the Foreign Policy journal, stated India is now a a lot nearer U.S. associate than Pakistan.
“This may worry Islamabad that if India retaliates militarily, the U.S. may sympathise with its counter-terrorism imperatives and not try to stand in the way,” Mr. Kugelman advised Reuters.
Mr. Kugelman additionally stated that given Washington’s involvement and ongoing diplomatic efforts in Russia’s conflict in Ukraine and Israel’s conflict in Gaza, the Trump administration is “dealing with a lot on its global plate” and could go away India and Pakistan on their very own, not less than in the early days of the tensions.
Hussain Haqqani, a former Pakistan ambassador to the U.S. and a senior fellow on the Hudson Institute assume tank, additionally stated that there gave the impression to be no U.S. urge for food to calm the state of affairs at this second.
“India has a longstanding grievance about terrorism emanating or supported from across border. Pakistan has a longstanding belief that India wants to dismember it. Both work themselves into a frenzy every few years. This time there is no U.S. interest in calming things down,” Mr. Haqqani stated.
ESCALATING TENSIONS
Muslim-majority Kashmir is claimed in full by each Hindu-majority India and Islamic Pakistan who every rule over solely elements of it and have beforehand fought wars over the Himalayan area.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has vowed to pursue the attackers to “the ends of the earth” and stated that those that deliberate and carried out the Kashmir assault “will be punished beyond their imagination”. Calls have additionally grown from Indian politicians and others for army motion in opposition to Pakistan.
After the assault, India and Pakistan unleashed a raft of measures in opposition to one another, with Pakistan closing its airspace to Indian airways and India suspending the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty that regulates water-sharing from the Indus River and its tributaries.
The two sides have additionally exchanged hearth throughout the Line of Control (LoC) after 4 years of relative calm.
A little bit-known militant group, Kashmir Resistance, claimed accountability for the assault in a social media message. Indian safety businesses say Kashmir Resistance, also called The Resistance Front, is a entrance for Pakistan-based militant organisations resembling Lashkar-e-Taiba and Hizbul Mujahideen.
Ned Price, a former U.S. State Department official underneath the administration of former President Joe Biden, stated that whereas the Trump administration was giving this difficulty the sensitivity it deserves, a notion that it could again India at any price could escalate tensions additional.
“The Trump Administration has made clear it wishes to deepen the U.S.-India partnership — a laudable goal — but that it is willing to do so at almost any cost. If India feels that the Trump Administration will back it to the hilt no matter what, we could be in store for more escalation and more violence between these nuclear-armed neighbors,” Mr. Price stated.
(with inputs from Reuters)
Published – April 28, 2025 07:20 am IST
