Want to encourage direct communication between India, Pakistan: US State Department

New York/Washington: The US said it encourages “direct communication” between India and Pakistan and commends Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for choosing the path of peace.

India and Pakistan reached an understanding on Saturday to end the conflict after four days of intense cross-border drone and missile strikes.

Indian government sources in New Delhi have been maintaining that the Director Generals of Military Operations (DGMOs) of India and Pakistan reached an understanding to stop all firings and military actions on land, air and sea, with immediate effect. They said no third party was involved.

“We also welcome the ceasefire between India and Pakistan and commend Prime Ministers Modi and Sharif for choosing the path of peace. As President Trump said, their decision reflects strength, wisdom, and fortitude,” Principal Deputy Spokesperson at the State Department Thomas Pigott said at a press briefing Tuesday.

“We urge both sides to maintain direct communication to preserve regional stability,” he said.

In response to a question on whether, in his calls with the Pakistani leaders Secretary of State Marco Rubio had received any commitment that they (Pakistan) will dismantle terrorist infrastructure, Pigott said he is not going to talk about private diplomatic conversations.

“What I can say is reiterating what we’ve been saying for a couple days now is that we welcome the ceasefire reached between India and Pakistan this weekend and we commend both prime ministers for choosing the path of peace.

“The President Truthed about this. He was very clear in terms of that. We also want to encourage direct communication between the parties. That is something we’ve also been clear about as well,” Pigott said, referring to the social media platform Truth Social.

On India refusing any US effort to mediate and how hopeful is Washington to bring the two countries together in the same room for talks, Pigott said: “Well, I’m not going to speculate on that. What I can say is that we encourage direct communication. We have been clear on that. We continue to encourage that direct communication.” “The President has been clear on that. And the President, as I said, has also been clear in praising both prime ministers for choosing the path towards peace and the wisdom and fortitude that that shows.” On whether the US has sent a team to Pakistan following reports of leaks of nuclear radiation, he said he has nothing to preview on that at this time.

He added the US is happy to see the “ceasefire”. “That is what we are happy to see. That’s where our focus remains. And we want to see a ceasefire be maintained, and we want to encourage direct communication. That is our focus here. Our focus is the ceasefire. Our focus is on encouraging direct communication. That’s where our focus is going to remain. The President has spoken on this,” he said.

“…the President – President Trump – is a peacemaker. He’s a peacemaker. He values peace. He’s also a dealmaker, and he has shown that again and again and again in terms of both pursuing an America First agenda but also pursuing peace and wanting to see peace and conflicts come to an end,” Pigott added.

In response to another question, Pigott reiterated that Washington is happy to see is a ceasefire. “We want to see direct communication between the parties. And when it comes to, again, solving conflicts that have existed in regions around the world, the President wants to solve those conflicts when he can.” “He’s often said that he stands ready to aid in the pursuit of peace; he stands ready to help. And the President is a dealmaker. He is a peacemaker. He has shown that again and again. And we’re seeing the results of that from the past hundred days and even just this last week.” India carried out precision strikes under 'Operation Sindoor' on terror infrastructure early on May 7 in response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people. Following the Indian action, Pakistan attempted to attack Indian military bases on May 8, 9 and 10.

The two countries reached an understanding on May 10.