By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The United States is intensifying diplomatic efforts to calm tensions between India and Pakistan following a deadly attack in occupied Kashmir, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio poised to speak with the foreign ministers of both nations, the State Department said on Tuesday.
The initiative follows an April 22 attack in Pahalgam, the disputed Kashmir region which killed 26 tourists.
India has accused Pakistan of supporting the attackers, an allegation Islamabad firmly denies. Since the incident, the nuclear-armed neighbors have exchanged gunfire across the Line of Control in Kashmir, closed borders and trade and revoked decades old accords.
State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce told reporters the US is closely tracking developments and engaging with both governments at multiple levels. “We are reaching out to both parties and telling them not to escalate the situation,” Bruce said, quoting Rubio.
The Secretary of State expects to hold talks with his Indian and Pakistani counterparts as early as Tuesday or Wednesday and has urged other world leaders to do the same.
On Friday, President Donald Trump downplayed the crisis, describing the Kashmir dispute as a long-standing issue that would be “figured out, one way or another.”
While Washington has condemned the attack and voiced support for India—echoed by statements from Trump and Vice President JD Vance—it has refrained from publicly criticising Pakistan.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in a Tuesday call with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, warned that Pakistan would defend its sovereignty “with full force” against any Indian aggression.
“While underscoring that Pakistan shall defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity with full force in case of any misadventure by India, the prime minister encouraged the UN Secretary-General to counsel India to act responsibly and exercise restraint,” Sharif’s office said in a statement.
“The prime minister categorically rejected any attempt to link Pakistan with the Pahalgam incident and reiterated his call for a transparent and neutral investigation into the incident.”
Guterres, who also spoke with Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, offered his good offices to support de-escalation efforts, emphasizing “the need to avoid a confrontation that could result in tragic consequences,” according to his spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
The current crisis has plunged India-Pakistan relations to a new low. The standoff recalls the 2019 Pulwama attack, when a suicide bombing killed 40 Indian paramilitary troops, prompting Indian airstrikes in Pakistan and an aerial clash that saw an Indian pilot captured and later released.
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