The United States has called for Pakistan and India to reduce tensions though increased communication, with a spokesman saying that top American diplomat John Kerry had cautioned against any escalation during a conversation with Indian Exeternal Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.
A State Department spokesman also said Washington is closely following the situation, amid reports of claims and counterclaims by Indian and Pakistani forces of actions along the Line of Control in the dispute Kashmir region.
“Our message to both sides has been the same, in terms of encouraging them to increase communication to deal with this threat and to avoid steps that escalate the tensions,” State Department Spokesman John Kirby said as the two South Asian nations, Pakistan and India, claimed to inflict losses on each other in the disputed Kashmir region.
However, Kirby would not particularly characterize any step as escalation.
“I’m not going to get into characterizing each and every step along the way there. But obviously, what we want to see is increased cooperation against what is a very shared common threat for both countries, and to see steps being taken to deal with it by all sides.”
But the spokesman confirmed Secretary of State Kerry cautioning against escalation during a telephonic converersation.
When asked if India had consluted Washington before its claimed “surgical strike” against mililtant targets on the other side of the Line of Control in Kashmir, the spokesman replied:
“I can confirm for you that the Secretary (Kerry) spoke with the – on the 27th, so earlier this week, with Indian External Affairs Minister Swaraj and reiterated his strong condemnation of the September 18th Uri attack. He condemned terrorism in all its forms and he cautioned against any escalation in tensions.”
According to the spokesman there were two telephonic calls between Kerry and Sawaraj due to a technical glitch in the first call but there was one converersation. The spokesman had no calls to announce with Pakistani officials.
Besides Kerry, US National Security Advisor Susan Rice also had a telephonic conversation with her Indian counterpart Ajit Doval and during Thursday’s briefing, spokesmsan Kirby echoed some of the concerns:
“We’re following the situation closely, as I think you can understand. We also understand that the Indian and Pakistani militaries have been in communication. We believe that continued communication is obviously important to reduce tensions.
“We’ve repeatedly expressed our concerns regarding the danger that terrorism poses to the region. And we all know that terrorism, in many ways, knows no border. We continue to urge actions to combat and delegitimize terrorist groups like LeT and the Haqqani Network, Jaish-e-Mohammad. So this is something that we’re obviously keenly focused on.”
Meanwhile, US Ambassador to New Delhi, Richard Verrma has dashed back to the Indian capital in view of the deteriorating South Asian situation.
“As far as I know, he’s returning to New Delhi. My understanding is that he believed that it was appropriate for him to go back. And I mean, he’s a – he’s got a big job, there’s a lot of responsibilities that come with it, and obviously it’s a very dynamic situation, and he felt it was prudent to go back. And we support that,” the spokesman confirmed.
Kirby said terrorism is a shared challenge facing the region and the United States is ready to contribute to efforts against the common threat.
“We’ve expressed repeatedly our concerns about the danger of terrorism, cross-border terrorism, as well, in the region, and we continue to urge actions to combat and de-legitimize groups like LeT and the Haqqani Network and Jaish-e-Mohammad. I mean, these – as I’ve said many times in answer to you, Goyal, these are shared common threats that everybody in the region faces. And we believe it’s important for everybody in the region – and we’re obviously willing to, and have proven, willing to contribute to those efforts – to take that on, to take that on as a shared regional challenge.”
