US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has requested India and Pakistan not to escalate the situation and wants to convey the same thing in telephone calls to his counterparts in the two countries, Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Pakistani foreign minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar respectively.
The US also asks other world leaders to convey the same to the two countries.
We are reaching out to both sides and urging, of course, them not to ratchet it up," State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce read from a statement by Secretary Rubio on Tuesday. "The Secretary hopes to speak with the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan today or tomorrow.".
The spokesman also went on to say that Secretary Rubio "is encouraging other national leaders, other foreign ministers, to reach out as well to the countries on this issue."
Bruce went on to add that the US has spoken to India and Pakistan at other levels as well, besides the level of foreign ministers. She did not explain. There were no state department reports on the calls.
Rubio made his remark several hours after media reports indicated Prime Minister Narendra Modi had given the armed forces "full operational freedom to choose the mode, target and timing of our response".
This followed after PM Modi organized a high-level meeting, in which Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, and the three services chiefs were in attendance.
President Donald Trump had called Prime Minister Narendra Modi just a few hours after the Pahalgam terror attack last week.
The Indian Prime Minister during that call had stated: "India is determined to make the perpetrators and supporters of this dastardly and gruesome terrorist attack accountable", reflecting the nation's keenness not only to hold the terrorists who launched the attack accountable, but also their sponsors, an indication towards Pakistan.
Tulsi Gabbard, director of national intelligence posted on X US backing India's efforts to "track down" the assailants in a statement.
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