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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has called on both India and Pakistan to ease mounting tensions following a deadly terrorist attack.
Some shit you should know before you read: On April 22, a brutal terrorist attack in Indian-administered Kashmir left 26 civilians—mostly Hindu tourists—dead in a meadow near the town of Pahalgam. Indian authorities blamed the attack on Pakistan-based militants, initially linking it to a group called the Resistance Front, which later denied involvement. Police named two of the four suspects as Pakistani nationals. India accused Pakistan of supporting and sheltering the attackers, while Pakistan vehemently rejected the claims, calling them politically motivated and unsubstantiated. Since then, clashes along the Line of Control have intensified, with Indian and Pakistani troops exchanging nightly fire and each accusing the other of breaching the ceasefire across several sectors. Escalating fears of a larger conflict, Pakistan’s government warned it had “credible intelligence” suggesting that India was planning imminent military action within 24 to 36 hours, which it vowed would result in an “all out war.”
What’s going on now: In a notable development, the State Department confirmed that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio held separate high-level phone calls with Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in an urgent effort to defuse tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbors. In a statement, State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said, “Secretary Rubio emphasized the need for both India and Pakistan to de-escalate tensions, re-establish direct communications, and maintain peace and stability in South Asia.“
During the call with India, Rubio condemned the April 22 attack in Kashmir as “unconscionable” and extended “his sorrow for the lives lost,” reaffirming the US commitment to “cooperation with India against terrorism.” At the same time, while speaking with his Pakistani counterpart, he urged Pakistan to “cooperate in investigating this heinous act” and to publicly condemn the violence.
While rejecting India’s accusations, Pakistani Prime Minister Sharif asked the US to “impress upon India to dial down the rhetoric.”
This comes as both India and Pakistan possess their own nuclear arsenals, with India holding an estimated 164 warheads and Pakistan about 170. In recent days, both countries have visibly ramped up military readiness. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has granted his military a “free hand” to respond, while Pakistan’s army chief General Asim Munir oversaw combat readiness drills in eastern Punjab, warning that “any military misadventure by India will be met with a swift, resolute, and notch-up response.”
