US in touch with India and Pakistan urges work toward responsible solution

WASHINGTON - The US State Department on April 27 said that Washington was in touch with both India and Pakistan while urging them to work towards what it called a “responsible solution”, as tensions rise between the two Asian nations following a recent Islamist militant attack in Kashmir.

In public, the US government has expressed support for India after the attack but has not criticised Pakistan. India blamed Pakistan for the April 22 attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that killed more than two dozen people. Pakistan denies responsibility and called for a neutral probe.

“This is an evolving situation and we are monitoring developments closely. We have been in touch with the governments of India and Pakistan at multiple levels,” a US State Department spokesperson told Reuters in an e-mailed statement.

“The United States encourages all parties to work together towards a responsible solution,” the spokesperson added.

The State Department spokesperson also said Washington “stands with India and strongly condemns the terrorist attack in Pahalgam”, reiterating comments similar to recent ones made by US President Donald Trump and Vice-President J.D. Vance.

India is an increasingly important US partner as Washington aims to counter China’s rising influence in Asia, while Pakistan remains a US ally, even as its importance for Washington has diminished after the 2021 US withdrawal from neighbouring Afghanistan.

Mr Michael Kugelman, a Washington-based South Asia analyst and writer for Foreign Policy magazine, said India is now a much closer US partner than Pakistan.

“This may worry Islamabad that if India retaliates militarily, the US may sympathise with its counter-terrorism imperatives and not try to stand in the way,” Mr Kugelman told Reuters.

He also said that given Washington’s involvement and ongoing diplomatic efforts in Russia’s war in Ukraine and Israel’s war in Gaza, the Trump administration is “dealing with