Encourage direct communication between India and Pakistan: US State Department
The United States on Tuesday said that it encourages “direct communication” between India and Pakistan and commends Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Shehbaz Sharif for choosing “the path of peace”.
This comes amid a pushback from India following US President Donald Trump’s earlier claim that he pressured India and Pakistan into accepting a ceasefire by threatening to stop trade with both countries. He reiterated the claim that it was his administration that brokered a “full and immediate ceasefire” between India and Pakistan.
The US president had also claimed that his administration stopped a nuclear conflict.
“I think it could have been a bad nuclear war,” Trump said on Monday. “Millions of people could have been killed.”
India has maintained that “the issue of trade did not come up” in any discussion between Indian and US leaders.
Besides, India’s External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on Tuesday also said military action from India’s side was “entirely in the conventional domain” in response to Trump’s speculation about nuclear war.
On Tuesday, Thomas Pigott, the principal deputy spokesperson at the US state department, said that the decision by India and Pakistan to stop all firing after four days of military tensions reflected “strength, wisdom and fortitude”.
When asked whether US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had secured any commitment from Pakistani leaders to...
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