Rubio calls India and Pakistan in effort to defuse crisis over Kashmir attack

NEW DELHI – U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called elder officials successful India and Pakistan successful an effort to defuse the situation that followed past week's deadly onslaught successful Kashmir, the State Department said.

Rubio urged Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar to de-escalate tensions connected Wednesday.

India has vowed to punish Pakistan aft accusing it of backing the attack, which Islamabad denies. The nuclear-armed rivals person since expelled each other's diplomats and citizens, ordered the borderline unopen and closed their airspace to each other. New Delhi has suspended a important water-sharing pact with Islamabad.

Soldiers connected each broadside person also exchanged fire on their de facto border, driving tensions betwixt India and Pakistan to their highest constituent successful caller years.

The portion of Kashmir is divided betwixt India and Pakistan and claimed by some successful its entirety. The 2 countries person fought 2 wars and 1 constricted struggle implicit the Himalayan territory.

U.S. State Department’s Spokesperson Tammy Bruce said Rubio successful his telephone with Jaishankar expressed sorrow implicit past week’s massacre. He besides reaffirmed the U.S.’s "commitment to practice with India against terrorism,” Bruce said.

Jaishankar connected Thursday said helium discussed the past week’s massacre successful Indian-controlled Kashmir’s Pahalgam, successful which 26 tourists, mostly Hindu men, were killed, with Rubio, adding that “perpetrators, backers and planners” of the onslaught “must beryllium brought to justice.”

Rubio besides spoke to Sharif connected Wednesday evening and “emphasized the request for some sides to proceed moving unneurotic for bid and stableness successful South Asia,” according to a Pakistani statement. It said Sharif rejected the Indian allegations and “urged the U.S. to impressment upon India to dial down the rhetoric and enactment responsibly.”

Public choler has swelled successful India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has vowed to prosecute the attackers “to the ends of the earth.” A Pakistani curate has said that Pakistan has “credible intelligence” that India is readying to onslaught it wrong days.

Indian and Pakistani troops person speech occurrence implicit the past six nights, with each broadside blaming the different for firing first.

The Indian service successful a connection connected Thursday said it responded to “unprovoked” tiny arms occurrence from Pakistan successful the Kupwara, Uri and Akhnoor sectors of Indian-controlled Kashmir. The erstwhile day, Pakistan’s state-run media said Indian forces had violated the ceasefire statement on the Line of Control by initiating occurrence with dense weapons connected troops successful the Mandal assemblage of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir. The incidents could not beryllium independently verified.

In the past, each broadside has accused the different of starting borderline skirmishes successful the Himalayan region.

___

Ahmed reported from Islamabad, Pakistan.

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This worldly whitethorn not beryllium published, broadcast, rewritten oregon redistributed without permission.