Trump wants India-Pak tensions to de-escalate, says White House

Washington, May 9 (IANS) US President Donald Trump wants tensions between India and Pakistan to “de-escalate as quickly as possible”, the White House said on Friday.

That message has been conveyed to both sides by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is doubling up temporarily as the president’s national security adviser.

“The president has expressed he wants to see this de-escalate as quickly as possible,” White House spokesperson Karoline Levitt said at a White House briefing.

“He understands these are two countries that have been at odds with one another for decades, long before President Trump was here in the Oval Office. However, he has good relationships with the leaders of both countries.”

Asked if the President was planning to speak to leaders of the two countries, Levitt said she will let reporters know when that happens.

At present, Secretary of State Rubio is spearheading US engagement in the region. She said the secretary has been “in constant communication with the leaders of both countries trying to bring this conflict to an end”.

Secretary Rubio spoke on Thursday with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

While expressing sorrow over the deaths in the April 22 Pahalgam terrorist attack by a Pakistan-based outfit, the secretary “encouraged India to work with Pakistan to de-escalate tensions and maintain peace and security in South Asia”.

The message he conveyed to Sharif also stressed the need to de-escalate tension but also said Pakistan needs to “end “end any support for terrorist groups” endorsing the Indian position that Pakistan has been a supporter of terrorism.

Tammy Bruce, the state department spokesperson, has said the US message to both India and Pakistan has been two fold: “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 at the center of this, in speaking with a variety of leaders of both countries over the last two days."

--IANS

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