Rubio calls India and Pakistan in effort to defuse crisis over Kashmir
attack
[May 01, 2025]
By SHEIKH SAALIQ and MUNIR AHMED
NEW DELHI (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called senior
officials in India and Pakistan in an effort to defuse the crisis that
followed last week's deadly attack in Kashmir, the State Department
said.
Rubio urged Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Indian Foreign
Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar to de-escalate tensions on Wednesday.
India has vowed to punish Pakistan after accusing it of backing the
attack, which Islamabad denies. The nuclear-armed rivals have since
expelled each other's diplomats and citizens, ordered the border shut
and closed their airspace to each other. New Delhi has suspended a
crucial water-sharing treaty with Islamabad.
Soldiers on each side have also exchanged fire along their de facto
border, driving tensions between India and Pakistan to their highest
point in recent years.
The region of Kashmir is split between India and Pakistan and claimed by
both in its entirety. The two countries have fought two wars and one
limited conflict over the Himalayan territory.
U.S. State Department’s Spokesperson Tammy Bruce said Rubio in his call
with Jaishankar expressed sorrow over last week’s massacre. He also
reaffirmed the U.S.’s "commitment to cooperation with India against
terrorism,” Bruce said.
Jaishankar on Thursday said he discussed the last week’s massacre in
Indian-controlled Kashmir’s Pahalgam, in which 26 tourists, mostly Hindu
men, were killed, with Rubio, adding that “perpetrators, backers and
planners” of the attack “must be brought to justice.”
Rubio also spoke to Sharif on Wednesday evening and “emphasized the need
for both sides to continue working together for peace and stability in
South Asia,” according to a Pakistani statement. It said Sharif rejected
the Indian allegations and “urged the U.S. to impress upon India to dial
down the rhetoric and act responsibly.”
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A Pakistani paramilitary soldier stands guard at a checkpoint in
Wagah, a joint border crossing point on the Pakistan and India
border, near Lahore, Pakistan, Wednesday, April 30, 2025.(AP Photo/K.M.
Chaudary)
Public anger has swelled in India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has
vowed to pursue the attackers “to the ends of the earth.” A Pakistani
minister has said that Pakistan has “credible intelligence” that India
is planning to attack it within days.
Indian and Pakistani troops have exchange fire over the past six nights,
with each side blaming the other for firing first.
The Indian army in a statement on Thursday said it responded to
“unprovoked” small arms fire from Pakistan in the Kupwara, Uri and
Akhnoor sectors of Indian-controlled Kashmir. The previous day,
Pakistan’s state-run media said Indian forces had violated the ceasefire
agreement along the Line of Control by initiating fire with heavy
weapons on troops in the Mandal sector of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir.
The incidents could not be independently verified.
In the past, each side has accused the other of starting border
skirmishes in the Himalayan region.
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Ahmed reported from Islamabad, Pakistan.
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