US urges India and Pakistan not to escalate tensions Rubio plans calls

WASHINGTON - US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will speak soon with his counterparts in India and Pakistan and urge them not to escalate tensions over a deadly Islamist militant attack in India-administered Kashmir, the State Department said on April 29.

Washington said on April 27 it was in touch with the nuclear-armed Asian neighbours at multiple levels, while urging them to work towards what it called a “responsible solution”.

“We are reaching out to both parties, and telling, of course, them to not escalate the situation,” a State Department spokesperson told reporters, quoting a statement by Mr Rubio.

Mr Rubio expects to speak to the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan on April 29 or 30, and encouraged other foreign ministers to do the same, the State Department added.

In public, Washington expressed support for India after the attack that was condemned by President Donald Trump and Vice-President J.D. Vance, but it has not criticised Pakistan.

India blamed Pakistan for the April 22 attack that killed 26. Pakistan denies responsibility and called for a neutral probe.

India is an increasingly important US partner as Washington aims to counter China’s rising influence.

Pakistan remains Washington’s ally, even as its importance diminished after the 2021 US withdrawal from neighbouring Afghanistan.

Muslim-majority Kashmir is claimed in full by both Hindu-majority India and Islamic Pakistan, which each control only part of it and have fought wars over the Himalayan region.

After the attack, India suspended the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty that regulates water-sharing from the Indus River and its tributaries, and Pakistan closed airspace to Indian airlines.

They also exchanged fire across their de facto border.

Hindu nationalist Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has vowed to punish the attackers.

Pakistan’s Defence Minister has said a military incursion by India was imminent.