US calls for immediate de-escalation, endorses Pakistan's claim about civilian death in India's offensive

New Delhi: Though New Delhi subtly rejected President Donald Trump’s offer to mediate between India and Pakistan, the United States on Thursday called for “immediate de-escalation” and “direct dialogue” between the two neighbouring nations in South Asia.

The Trump Administration also appeared to have endorsed Islamabad’s claim about civilians being killed in India’s offensive targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and areas under the control of Pakistan, even as New Delhi claimed that Operation Sindoor only eliminated terrorists across the Line of Control and the undisputed stretch of the border between the two nations.

Washington, D.C., also asked Islamabad to “take concrete steps to end any support for terrorist groups”.

Trump’s Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, called External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. He also called Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

“The secretary expressed sorrow for the reported loss of civilian lives in the current conflict. He reiterated his calls for Pakistan to take concrete steps to end any support for terrorist groups,” Tammy Bruce, the spokesperson of the US State Department, stated in a press release issued in Washington, D.C., after Rubio spoke to Sharif.

“The secretary reiterated his condolences for the horrific terrorist attack in Pahalgam and reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to work with India in the fight against terrorism,” Bruce said in another statement after Rubio called the external affairs minister Jaishankar in New Delhi.

During his phone call with Jaishankar, Rubio emphasised the need for “immediate de-escalation” between India and Pakistan.

He expressed US support for direct dialogue between India and Pakistan and encouraged continued efforts to improve communications, said Bruce. He conveyed the same

The US secretary of state reiterated his condolences for the horrific terrorist attack in Pahalgam and reaffirmed the commitment of the Trump Administration to work with India in the fight against terrorism.

“Spoke with US @SecRubio this evening. Deeply appreciate the US commitment to work with India in the fight against terrorism. Underlined India’s targeted and measured response to cross-border terrorism. Will firmly counter any attempts at escalation,” Jaishankar posted on X.

New Delhi earlier thanked Trump but politely rejected his offer to help diffuse tension with Pakistan. New Delhi instead urged the Trump Administration in Washington, D.C., to ask Islamabad to stop supporting terrorist organisations.

“We are truly, truly thankful to President Trump. I think the best would be if our partners in the US would tell the Pakistanis to stop supporting these terrorists,” Vinay Mohan Kwatra, New Delhi’s envoy to Washington, D.C., told Fox News. He made the comment after Trump offered to help de-escalate tension between India and Pakistan.

During Trump’s first tenure in the Oval Office, New Delhi had rejected his offer to mediate between India and China. He had made the offer after the violent face-off between the soldiers of the Indian Army and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army at Galwan Valley on June 15, 2020.

India carried out missile strikes early on Wednesday, targeting the terrorist camps in Pakistan as well as in parts of India’s Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir illegally occupied by Pakistan. The ‘Operation Sindoor’ was launched a fortnight after 26 people were killed by a gang of Pakistani and Pakistan-trained terrorists at Baisaran near Pahalgam in J&K on April 22.

“This operation that we carried out was aimed at bringing accountability and justice to those subhuman monsters, those worst of the worst, who carried out these terrible attacks on the 22nd of April,” Kwatra told the TV channel.

As India’s missile strikes on terrorist camps in areas under the control of Pakistan heightened tensions between the two South Asian nations, the Trump Administration urged New Delhi and Washington, D.C., to avoid escalation.

“It is so terrible. I get along with both. I know both very well. I want to see them work it out; I want to see them stop. Hopefully, they can stop now. They have done tit for tat,” Trump said, adding that the US had good relationships with both India and Pakistan.

New Delhi in the past rejected any attempt by any foreign leader or entity or any international organisation to mediate between India and Pakistan.

New Delhi maintains that the 1972 Simla Agreement between India and Pakistan and the 1999 Lahore Declaration had left no scope for the UN or any other third party to play any role in resolving the “outstanding issues” between the two South Asian neighbours.

Islamabad, however, recently put in abeyance the Simla Agreement and all other bilateral pacts between India and Pakistan as a retaliatory measure after New Delhi suspended the Indus Water Treaty, 1960, in response to the terrorist attack.