India said it carried out air strikes on several targets in Pakistan and the disputed Kashmir territory on Pakistani side while Islamabad said it shot down three Indian jets – raising fears of a war between the two South Asian nuclear power – about two weeks after a terror attack in Indian-controlled part of Kashmir.
U.S. President Donald Trump called the Indian strikes on Pakistan a shame and voiced the hope that the Indian operation would end soon.
“It’s a shame,” Trump told reporters Tuesday at the White House.
The Indian strikes on two Pakistani towns and four places in Pakistan-administered Kashmir pushed South Asia to the edge of a confrontation that carries high risks and implications beyond the region.
New Delhi’s operation, which it said, targeted terror sites, came in the backdrop of April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam in the Indian-controlled Kashmir which killed 26 people.
“We just heard about it as we were walking in the doors of the oval. Just heard about it,” Trump said in his remarks, commenting on the Indian operation against Pakistani targets that began soon after Tuesday midnight Pakistan Standard Time.
The U.S. president expressed the hope that the operation would end very quickly.
“I guess people knew something was going to happen based on a little bit of the past. They’ve been fighting for a long time. They’ve been fighting for many, many decades. And centuries, actually, if you think about it. I hope it ends very quickly,” Trump said.
State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce has said Washington wants a “responsible resolution” to the standoff.
A few days ago, Secretary of State Marco Rubio was on phone with top Pakistani leaders and Indian diplomats to urge restraint.
Experts say how far the U.S. will be effecting in containing the conflict depends on the level of diplomacy it conducts with both its partners, considered critical to peace and security in South Asia.
Professor Akbar Ahmed, Ibn Khaludn Chair of Islamic Studies at Washington’s American University, says President Trump should immediately pick the phone and invite leaders of Pakistan and India and broker a peace treaty,
“The United States has close ties with both countries. Secondly, the U.S. would not like India to distract its attention from competition with China,” he noted.
“Thirdly, if there is a nuclear exchange between the two countries it would not just be bad for the region but the entire planet. So, Trump has a chance to work out a peace deal and play a major role on the international stage,” Dr. Ahmed told Views News Now.
In New York, the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres expressed his concern over the confrontation.
“The Secretary-General is very concerned about the Indian military operations across the Line of Control and international border. He calls for maximum military restraint from both countries,” a UN statement said.
“The world cannot afford a military confrontation between India and Pakistan,” the world body’s chief said.
Indian-Pakistani confrontation occurred hours after the UN Security Council called for de-escalation and dialogue to address the dispute between the two nations.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had given Indian army operational freedom to retaliate for Palagam attack, which New Delhi says had links to Pakistan.
Islamabad has denied the allegation.
In response to Indian strikes Pakistan military said it shot down three Indian war planes and hit Indian military targets in the Indian-controlled Kashmir.
South Asia is home to one fourth of the world’s population. The United States, major European powers, China, Japan and Russia has key ties in the region.
Analysts say it’s not just one of the largest economic zones and consumer markets but any war between thee two countries would have serious repercussions.
Michael Kugelman, Director South Asia at Washington’s Woodrow Wilson Center, the two countries have already shown that they are ready to intensify the confrontation.
“India’s strike on Pakistan is of much greater scale than the one in 2019. Pakistan’s response, which according to many reports included downing several Indian jets, has also exceeded the scale of 2019.
“They’re already higher up the escalatory ladder than any time in ‘19 crisis,” he wrote in a post on X platform.
