Amid escalating tensions with Pakistan following India’s airstrikes on terror launchpads in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed concern and said he is willing to “help” de-escalate the conflict between the two countries.
“It’s so terrible. My position is—I get along with both. I know both very well, and I want to see them work it out. I want to see them stop, and hopefully, they can stop now. They have gone tit for tat, so hopefully, they can stop now. I know them both; we get along with both countries very well,” Trump said.
“I have good relationships with both, and I want to see it stop. And if I can do anything to help, I will be there,” he added, responding to a question about the tensions between India and Pakistan.
India launched Operation Sindoor early Wednesday, targeting nine terror sites in PoK and Pakistan in retaliation for the April 22 terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, which killed 26 people.
Earlier Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he was closely monitoring the situation following India’s missile strikes on multiple terror sites in Pakistan.
In a statement posted on X, Rubio said:
“I am monitoring the situation between India and Pakistan closely. I echo President Trump’s comments earlier today that this hopefully ends quickly and will continue to engage both Indian and Pakistani leadership towards a peaceful resolution.”
Commenting on India’s airstrikes, Trump said Tuesday that he hopes the hostilities between the two nuclear-armed neighbors will end “very quickly.”
“It’s a shame,” he said, adding, “We heard about it just as we were walking into the Oval Office. I guess people knew something was going to happen based on a little bit of the past.”
“They’ve been fighting for a long time—many, many decades and centuries, actually, if you really think about it,” Trump remarked.
When asked if he had a message for the countries, Trump responded:
“No, I just hope it ends very quickly.”—IANS
