Washington/New Delhi, May 9 (UNI) America has been speaking with a variety of leaders of both India and Pakistan over the last two days in an effort to de-escalate tension, US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said, but declined to provide details.
As US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke to both External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif urging both sides to de-escalate and hold dialogue, US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said that Marco Rubio has been the “center point leading these conversations and this outreach”.
“And he’s made very clear focusing on two things: that this should not escalate. This has been a key framework. Clearly this has been an issue for decades and it’s – with what we saw over the last few weeks after the terrorist attack, it was not surprising but very, very disappointing. But it was about, certainly, that it should not escalate. And communication was fundamentally key, that there should be talks, that there should not be silence, and that America obviously was in the center of this in speaking with a variety of leaders of both countries over the last two days.”
To a question on Rubio, while speaking with Sharif, expressing “sorrow for the reported loss of civilian lives in the current conflict”, referring to Operation Sindoor, and whether it meant that the US does not believe India’s claim that it struck terror camps in Pakistan and POK, the spokesperson dodged giving an answer.
Asked if Rubio has offered to play a mediation role between the two countries, she said it was important not to reveal details to the media.
“Well, as you know, I mean, there’s – this has been – every situation – in this particular case, of course, a very delicate and dangerous situation. But in any case, where there’s diplomatic conversations between leaders of countries or really any level where there’s negotiations happening, we are not going to be speaking about the details. That is certainly our policy. We think it’s important to not put details in the midst of the media, the worldwide media, when the work is being done privately between leaders, and we need to really try to keep it that way.”
Asked if the US has any intelligence to back India’s claim that it struck terrorist camps in the cross-border strikes, she said:
”Well, what I can say here – a few more things, certainly. We continue to urge India and Pakistan to work towards a responsible solution in this, and we’ve been saying that, certainly, from the beginning. We also want to say that what matters in this particular instance right now where we’re at is that the phone calls happened, that we are remaining engaged with both governments at, again, multiple levels. We, though, will not engage in the nature of discussing what the conversations have been or what we have conveyed. Certainly, there’s a lot already on the record when it comes to our reaction to what’s been happening here.”
On Pakistan wanting an independent investigation into the Pahalgam attack, she said: “So there’s some discussion that Pakistan wants an independent investigation as to what has happened regarding the terrorist attack, and, of course, what we say to that is we want the perpetrators to be held accountable and are supportive of any efforts to that end.”
In Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s call with the Pakistan PM, the readout said that that Rubio “reiterated his calls for Pakistan to take concrete steps to end any support for terrorist groups”.
Asked if it was the view of the United States, along with what India is saying that Pakistan is supporting terrorist groups, the spokesperson said:
“Well, obviously, in today’s world, that’s a call that we have been making for decades. It is the dynamic that we’ve seen in the Middle East, disrupting lives. And clearly what happened in Kashmir is awful, and we’ve all – of course, we send our condolences. The world has rejected the nature of that kind of violence overall, of course, and certainly the President has and continues to. But at this moment in time, there is like one thing that has to stop, which is a back-and-forth and a continuation of this, and that is what we’re focused on right now.”
”So obviously, when it comes to solving a problem, this administration has made itself clear, that war, the military, more violence is not a solution. Diplomacy is a solution, new ideas to stop generational violence and problems.”
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