WASHINGTON– U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has urged both India and Pakistan to exercise restraint and avoid further escalation amid rising tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbors. The appeal comes in the wake of last week’s deadly terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Kashmir, which claimed the lives of 26 civilians and has significantly heightened regional volatility.
Secretary Rubio plans to deliver the message personally during phone calls with Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar. “We are reaching out to both parties and telling them, of course, not to escalate the situation,” said State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce, reading from Rubio’s prepared remarks. “The Secretary expects to speak with the foreign ministers of Pakistan and India as early as today or tomorrow.”
Bruce added that the United States is encouraging other global leaders and foreign ministers to deliver similar messages to both New Delhi and Islamabad. “We believe international engagement is crucial to preventing further deterioration of the situation,” she said, noting that the U.S. has also engaged both nations through diplomatic channels beyond the foreign ministers. She did not provide additional details, and the State Department has not released updates on the status of the calls.
Rubio’s remarks came shortly after Indian media reported that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had given India’s armed forces “complete operational freedom” to determine the timing, method, and targets of any response to the Pahalgam attack. Modi chaired a high-level meeting with senior defense and security officials, including Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, and the chiefs of the Army, Navy, and Air Force.
President Donald Trump also spoke with Prime Minister Modi shortly after the attack. According to a statement from the Indian side, Modi emphasized that India is “determined to bring the perpetrators and their backers to justice,” a clear reference to Pakistan, which India has long accused of harboring and supporting terrorist groups operating across the border.
Tulsi Gabbard, the U.S. Director of National Intelligence, publicly expressed support for India’s pursuit of justice, posting on X that the United States supports efforts to “hunt down” those responsible for the attack.
The U.S. has historically played a moderating role in India-Pakistan conflicts and is once again positioning itself as a diplomatic stabilizer. The latest appeal for de-escalation reflects concern over the potential for the situation to spiral into a broader conflict if tensions are not managed carefully in the coming days. (Source: IANS)
