- JD Vance says US wants India and Pakistan to de-escalate.
- Vance says “we can’t control these countries”.
- US has held talks with both sides in recent days.
WASHINGTON: US Vice President JD Vance said on Thursday that India and Pakistan should de-escalate tensions, but he added that the US cannot control the nuclear-armed Asian neighbours and a war between them would be “none of our business”.
“We want this thing to de-escalate as quickly as possible. We can’t control these countries, though,” Vance said in an interview on Fox News show “The Story with Martha MacCallum”.
“What we can do is try to encourage these folks to de-escalate a little bit, but we’re not going to get involved in the middle of war that’s fundamentally none of our business and has nothing to do with America’s ability to control it,” he added.
India is an important partner for Washington, which aims to counter China’s rising influence, while Pakistan remains a US ally despite its diminished importance after Washington’s withdrawal from neighbouring Afghanistan in 2021.
Analysts and some former officials have said US involvement to achieve diplomatic goals in Russia’s war in Ukraine and Israel’s war in Gaza may make Washington leave India and Pakistan on their own in the early days of their tensions, without much direct pressure from the US government.
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said further retaliation was “increasingly certain,” on the second day of major clashes on Thursday. Two days of fighting killed nearly four dozen people.
The latest escalation in the decades-old India-Pakistan rivalry began on May 7 when at least 31 civilians were killed in unprovoked Indian cross border attack. In retaliation, Pakistan downed its five fighter jets, including three Rafale, and dozens of drones.
India claimed it targeted terrorists hideouts inside Pakistan, in response to the April 22 militants attack that left 26 people in Illegally India Occupied Jammu and Kashmir dead that New Delhi blamed on Islamabad, which denied the accusations and called for a neutral probe.
“Our hope and our expectation is that this is not going to spiral into a broader regional war or, God forbid, a nuclear conflict,” Vance said on Thursday.
Washington has held regular talks with both in recent days, including on Thursday when Secretary of State Marco Rubio held calls with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the India’s foreign minister while urging them to de-escalate and have direct dialogue.
US President Donald Trump called rising tensions a shame. On Wednesday, he said he hoped the two countries will stop now after going “tit-for-tat”. The State Department urged both countries to work towards what Washington terms as a “responsible solution.”