US urges India, Pakistan to de-escalate amid fears of clash

The US urged India and Pakistan to work together to de-escalate tensions and avoid an expected clash, after militants last week killed dozens of people in the Indian-controlled portion of the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, reports Bloomberg.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with top officials from both countries on Wednesday, asking them to “maintain peace and security in South Asia.” He told Pakistan’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, of the need to condemn the attack and re-establish direct communications, according to a statement from the State Department. Rubio also spoke with India’s External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.

Relations between the nuclear-armed nations and longtime adversaries have rapidly deteriorated in the wake of the attack, which India and the US have called an act of terrorism. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has accused Pakistan of involvement and vowed to punish those responsible. Pakistan has denied any links to the assault and warned of retaliation if India takes military action.

Jaishankar said in an X post Thursday that he discussed the attack in Kashmir with Rubio on April 30. “Its perpetrators, backers and planners must be brought to justice,” he said.

In a televised address early on Wednesday, Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said his country had “credible intelligence” that India would carry out military action in the next 24 to 36 hours. Hours later at a news conference, Pakistan’s military spokesman, Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, said the country’s response to any Indian aggression will be “befitting and decisive.”

Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, speaking at a joint briefing with Chaudhry, reiterated that Pakistan had “nothing” to do with the attack and demanded an “independent and transparent probe by the neutral investigators.”

“Pakistan will not be the first one to resort to any escalatory move,” Dar added. “In case of any escalatory move by the Indian side, we will respond very strongly,” he added.

On Thursday, Sharif’s advisor on political affairs, Rana Sana Ullah Khan said Pakistan is ready to join a probe by Indian officials into the attack during an interview with Geo News. “A war between two nuclear powers doesn’t end in victory or defeat for either side but on destruction of both nations,” he said.

Modi gave India’s armed forces a free hand to decide on the timing, targets and mode of responding to the assault in a meeting that included Defense Minister Rajnath Singh and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, the Economic Times reported Tuesday, citing people it didn’t identify. Modi’s office didn’t respond to an email seeking details of the meeting._Agencies.