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Trump wants ‘quick’ de-escalation amid rising India-Pakistan tensions: White House
The White House comments came two days after India carried out airstrikes on nine targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) as part of ‘Operation Sindoor
Speaking at a press briefing, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the president “has expressed he wants to see this de-escalate as quickly as possible.” (Reuters File Photo)
US President Donald Trump wants tensions between India and Pakistan to de-escalate “as quickly as possible,” the White House said on Friday, as bilateral tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbors intensified following a deadly terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam.
Speaking at a press briefing, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the president “has expressed he wants to see this de-escalate as quickly as possible,” noting that the longstanding rivalry between India and Pakistan “predates President Trump’s time in the Oval Office.”
The White House comments came two days after India carried out airstrikes on nine targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) as part of ‘Operation Sindoor,’ in what New Delhi described as a retaliatory response to the April 22 massacre in Pahalgam that killed 26 people, most of them tourists.
#WATCH | Washington, DC | On US efforts to mediate in the India-Pakistan conflict, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says, “This is something that the Secretary of State and now our NSA as well, Marco Rubio, has been involved in. The President has expressed that he… pic.twitter.com/NL55jSFyIM
— ANI (@ANI) May 9, 2025
“This is something that the Secretary of State and, of course, now our national security advisor as well, Marco Rubio, has been very much involved in,” Leavitt added, referencing ongoing high-level diplomatic engagement.
Leavitt said that President Trump “has good relationships” with both Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and that National Security Advisor Rubio has been in “constant communication with the leaders of both countries, trying to bring this conflict to an end.”
On Thursday, Secretary of State Rubio held separate calls with India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Pakistani Prime Minister Sharif. According to State Department readouts, Rubio pressed on the urgent need for de-escalation and reiterated calls for Islamabad to take verifiable steps to dismantle terrorist networks operating within its borders.
Indian officials said Jaishankar conveyed to Rubio that New Delhi remains committed to countering any escalatory moves.
(With PTI inputs)
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