Terming the standoff between nuclear-armed South Asian neighbors Pakistan and India as “very dangerous,” President Donald Trump has confirmed U.S. diplomatic efforts to stop further escalation in the tensions since an attack in Jammu and Kashmir region last week killed 40 Indian personnel.
“Right now between Pakistan and India, there is a very, very bad situation. A very dangerous situation. We would like to see it stop. A lot of people were just killed. We want to see it just stop. We are very much involved in that (process),” Trump told reporters at the White House.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has blamed the attack on Indian forces in Pulwama on Pakistan and threatened it with retribution while Pakistan has said it would retaliate immediately to any Indian misadventure. According to Indian media reports, militant organization Jaish e Mohammed has claimed responsibility for the attack.
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- Kashmir region 2004 Photo: By CIA [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Since then Pakistan’s Imran Khan-led government has moved against militant groups but also asked India to provide “actionable intelligence” and suggested that Modi is seeking political leverage ahead of this year’s general elections.
Meanwhile, Indian extremist groups have made life difficult for the people of the disputed Jammu and Kashmir region including students at various Indian colleges and universities.
In his White House comments, Trump said he understood the mood in New Delhi over the killings but also pointed out the diplomatic delicacy that Washington has to perform in dealing with India and Pakistan, which is helping a U.S.-desired peace process for Afghanistan.
“India is looking at something very strong. And I mean, India just lost almost 50 people with an attack. So, I could understand that also,” he said, when an Indian journalist wanted to know the U.S. position on New Delhi’s right to self-defense.
“We are talking and a lot of people are talking. But, it is a very, very delicate balance going on right now. There’s a lot of problems between India and Pakistan because of what just happened,” Trump added.
Trump noted that Washington has now had a much improved relationship with Pakistan after years of tensions.
“I stopped Pakistan, the USD 1.3 billion that we were paying them. In the meantime, we may set up some meetings with Pakistan.
“Pakistan was taking very strong advantage of the United States under other presidents and we were paying Pakistan 1.3 billion a year. I ended that payment to Pakistan because they weren’t helping us in a way that they should have.
“And honestly, we’ve developed a much better relationship with Pakistan over the last short period of time than we had.”
As the international community followed the unfolding Kashmir situation, the United Nations has also offered its help to defuse the spiraling tensions between India and Pakistan. Meanwhile, Modi’s government has indicated that it would wage a water war against Pakistan.
Pakistani officials and experts say that by blaming Pakistan of all that goes wrong in the UN-recognized disputed territory, India is trying to hide its violent and repressive rule in Kashmir. Last year, a detailed UN report documented a pattern of human rights violations in Kashmir.
Earlier this week, European Union parliamentarians backed the UN account and asked New Delhi to stop atrocities against the people.
India, on the other hand, denies what Pakistan calls as state terrorism in Kashmir and alleges Pakistani hand behind the recent uprising which has seen several civilian lives lost.
[…] 2019 […]