TOI Correspondent from Washington: Salutary advice about de-escalating tensions aside, the Trump administration on Thursday indicated the US would give New Delhi a free hand and stay out of any war between India and Pakistan, saying it is "none of our business."
Hewing to President Trump's line that the US should not get involved in foreign wars and his inclination to let India manage regional affairs, vice-president JD Vance told Fox News that much as the US wanted the situation to de-escalate as quickly as possible, it would not be dictating terms.
"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 said, giving New Delhi a wide berth despite Secretary of State Marco Rubio emphasising the need for de-escalation while censoriously putting the onus on Pakistan to "take concrete steps to end any support for terrorist groups."
President Trump, who clearly has only a vague idea of the complexities involved in the region, has shown a degree of indifference if not disinterest in what previous administrations often characterized as a "nuclear flashpoint" and rushed mediators to calm the situation. But the MAGA dispensation is largely inclined to let the India manage the problem, much to the dismay of Pakistan, which would like some intervention to return the Kashmir issue centerstage and arrest its slide into irrelevancy.
The Modi government too has been clear that it will not brook any intervention in the punitive measures it is determined to take against Pakistan for launching yet another brutal carnage in India, while callously insisting it was a false flag operation and it had nothing to do with it.
At the same time, it has been caught consorting with globally proscribed terrorists at home. The sight of the Pakistani military literally yoked together with wanted terrorists at the funeral of people who were killed in retaliatory Indian action was seized on by Indian diplomats to convey to western audiences that the world has been far too lenient on Islamabad's nurturing of terrorism.
New Delhi also made the case to the global audience on Thursday that it was Pakistan that was escalating the situation with attacks on Indian military facilities after India's punitive strikes at terror factories housed in religious seminaries. Pakistan blew its own cover story by putting out photos of its army personnel praying with wanted terrorists.
In phone calls with several of his counterparts, external affairs minister S Jaishankar spoke of New Delhi's "targeted and measured response to firmly counter terrorism" while asserting any escalation by Pakistan will get a firm response.
Hewing to President Trump's line that the US should not get involved in foreign wars and his inclination to let India manage regional affairs, vice-president JD Vance told Fox News that much as the US wanted the situation to de-escalate as quickly as possible, it would not be dictating terms.
"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 said, giving New Delhi a wide berth despite Secretary of State Marco Rubio emphasising the need for de-escalation while censoriously putting the onus on Pakistan to "take concrete steps to end any support for terrorist groups."
President Trump, who clearly has only a vague idea of the complexities involved in the region, has shown a degree of indifference if not disinterest in what previous administrations often characterized as a "nuclear flashpoint" and rushed mediators to calm the situation. But the MAGA dispensation is largely inclined to let the India manage the problem, much to the dismay of Pakistan, which would like some intervention to return the Kashmir issue centerstage and arrest its slide into irrelevancy.
The Modi government too has been clear that it will not brook any intervention in the punitive measures it is determined to take against Pakistan for launching yet another brutal carnage in India, while callously insisting it was a false flag operation and it had nothing to do with it.
At the same time, it has been caught consorting with globally proscribed terrorists at home. The sight of the Pakistani military literally yoked together with wanted terrorists at the funeral of people who were killed in retaliatory Indian action was seized on by Indian diplomats to convey to western audiences that the world has been far too lenient on Islamabad's nurturing of terrorism.
New Delhi also made the case to the global audience on Thursday that it was Pakistan that was escalating the situation with attacks on Indian military facilities after India's punitive strikes at terror factories housed in religious seminaries. Pakistan blew its own cover story by putting out photos of its army personnel praying with wanted terrorists.
In phone calls with several of his counterparts, external affairs minister S Jaishankar spoke of New Delhi's "targeted and measured response to firmly counter terrorism" while asserting any escalation by Pakistan will get a firm response.
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