US Vice President J.D. Vance said that the US would not intervene in the conflict between Pakistan and India, calling the war between the two nuclear powers "fundamentally none of our business".
This is reported by The Guardian.
Thus, Vance said that the US would seek to de-escalate the conflict, but could not force either side to "lay down their arms".
"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," Vance said during an interview with Fox News.
He added that since the US cannot force either side to lay down its arms, the country will "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. Right now, we don’t think that’s going to happen," the US Vice President said.
India said late on May 8 that it had thwarted missile and drone strikes by Pakistan, which would have been the latest round of tit-for-tat attacks between the two countries. Indian missile strikes on Pakistan early Wednesday killed 31 people. India said its target was "terrorist infrastructure," while Pakistan denied that any terrorist groups were operating in the areas hit by the Indian missiles.
After Vance said the US was continuing to reduce its role in mediating conflicts abroad, Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with leaders of both countries and called for an "immediate de-escalation" of the fighting.
Vance, who plays a key role in the new Trump administration's foreign policy, visited India last month, where he said India could retaliate against "terrorists" in Pakistan, but said the US did not want this to escalate into a broader regional conflict.
As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, on May 6, India announced an attack on nine facilities in Pakistan and the states of Jammu and Kashmir. After the attack, Pakistan announced the closure of the country's airspace for 48 hours.
At the time, Pakistan said at least 26 people had been killed in the Indian strikes. In response, Indian police reported 10 killed and 48 wounded in Pakistani shelling of Indian Kashmir.
On the night of May 7, the largest air battle took place between the air forces of India and Pakistan, in which about 125 combat aircraft took part.
Pakistani authorities said that the Pakistani military allegedly managed to shoot down five Indian fighter jets.
Meanwhile, Ukraine calls on India and Pakistan to exercise restraint and engage in diplomatic dialogue.
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