Won’t involve, but want India, Pakistan to resolve issues through talks: US

Ajay Banerjee

New Delhi, April 9

The US has said it will not get involved into the recent spat India and Pakistan over alleged extrajudicial killings, but added it encourages both sides to avoid escalation.

Mathew Miller, US State Department Spokesperson, replying to media questions at a briefing in Washington, said, “We have been following media reports about this issue. We don’t have any comment on the underlying allegations, but of course, while we’re not going to get in the middle of this situation, we encourage both sides to avoid escalation and find a resolution through dialogue.”

The reference to the question was that the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had made a phone call to Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Friday last. Miller was asked by media if there was any discussion on India-Pakistan tensions?

Miller said the Secretary did speak with the Pakistan minister to reaffirm “our robust partnership, which advances the prosperity of Pakistan and the US”.

“The Secretary and Dar discussed the importance of continued cooperation on counterterrorism, expanding our trade and investment partnership and advancing women’s economic security and empowerment,” the spokesperson added.

India-Pak tensions escalated after Britain’s Guardian published a report alleging the Indian Government killed 20 persons in Pakistan since 2020 as part of a broader plan to eliminate terrorists living on foreign soil.

On April 5, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said, “India will enter Pakistan to kill anyone who escapes after a terror act. If they run away to Pakistan, we will enter Pakistan to kill them.”

Pakistan responded on Saturday, saying Rajnath’s statement showed India’s “culpability” of carrying out extrajudicial killings inside Pakistan. Islamabad said it denounced the “provocative remarks” made by Rajnath Singh during an interview.

Avoid escalation

We have been following media reports… The US is not going to get in the middle of this situation, it will encourage both sides to avoid escalation and find a resolution through dialogue. — Matthew Miller, US state department