SRINAGAR: Amid escalating tensions between India and Pakistan, United States Vice President JD Vance has stated that Washington will not intervene in a war that is “fundamentally none of our business,” while reiterating the importance of diplomatic efforts to prevent further escalation between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.
Speaking in a television interview with Fox News on Thursday, Vance expressed concern over the potential for conflict between India and Pakistan but made it clear that the United States would not become directly involved.
“Look, we’re concerned about any time nuclear powers collide and have a major conflict,” The New Indian Express quoted the vice president saying.
“We can’t control these countries though. Fundamentally, India has its gripes with Pakistan. Pakistan has responded to India. What we can do is try to encourage these folks to de-escalate a little bit. But we’re not going to get involved in the middle of war that’s fundamentally none of our business and has nothing to do with America’s ability to control it,” the report read further.
A Hindustan Times report quoted Vance saying that the US administration’s position was to support immediate de-escalation. “We can’t tell the Indians to lay down their arms. We can’t tell the Pakistanis to lay down their arms. And so we’re going to continue to pursue this thing through diplomatic channels.”
“Our hope and our expectation is that this is not going to spiral into a broader regional war or, God forbid, a nuclear conflict, but sure, we’re worried about these things,” he added.
“But I think the job of diplomacy, but also the job of cooler heads in India and Pakistan is to make sure this doesn’t become a nuclear war. If it happened of course, it would be disastrous. Right now we don’t think that’s going to happen,” he said.
Vice President Vance, Second Lady Usha Vance and their three children were on their first official visit to India when terrorists killed 26 people, mostly tourists, in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, on April 22.
Two weeks after the attack, India launched Operation Sindoor, a precision military offensive targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Pakistan has been shelling the border areas of Poonch, Baramulla, Kupwara, and others since then. As per official reports, 13 civilians have lost their lives to Pakistani shelling.
