WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump, while voicing alarm at a “very dangerous” standoff between India and Pakistan, has indicated that the United States and others are trying to defuse tensions between the two states.

At a White House news briefing on Friday afternoon, Mr Trump also said that the United States had developed a “much better” relationship with Pakistan now and his administration may soon set up some meetings with Pakistani leaders.

Recalling that last year he had suspended US assistance to Pakistan after accusing it of not doing enough to discourage the Taliban militancy, he said: “Honestly, we developed a much better relationship with Pakistan in the last short period of time.”

The improvement followed a series of meetings between the US and Taliban representatives in Doha, arranged with Pakistan’s assistance.

President Trump, however, focused his remarks on Kashmir. “Are you talking about Kashmir? In Kashmir, it’s very dangerous,” he said to a journalist who had asked him a question on the India-Pakistan standoff.

Says Washington has developed recently a much better relationship with Islamabad

He hinted that India was still considering a “very strong” reaction to the Pulwama bombing. “India is looking at something very strong. India just lost almost 50 people with an attack. So I can understand that also,” he said.

Tensions soared between the two neighbours after the Feb 14 car bombing in Pulwama, a town in India-held Kashmir, killed 41 soldiers.

“It’s a terrible thing going on right now between Pakistan and India. It’s a very, very bad situation and it’s a very dangerous situation between the two countries,” Mr Trump told reporters after an Oval Office meeting with a Chinese official.

“And we would like to see it stop. A lot of people were just killed. We want to see it just stop. We are very much involved in that (process of reconciliation),” he added.

India, which blames Jaish-e-Mohammad for the attack, has threatened retaliatory attacks against Pakistan, alleging that the explosion was planned inside the Pakistani territory.

Pakistan has strongly rejected the Indian claim and last week Prime Minister Imran Khan promised to probe the allegations if provided “actionable evidence”. But he also warned that Pakistan would respond strongly if attacked.

On Friday, the Pakistan army also urged India to avoid “any misadventure,” as it could have dangerous consequences.

The gradually increasing tensions alar­med world capitals, as President Trump suggested at his news briefing, and they immediately got in touch with both New Delhi and Islamabad to defuse the situation.

“We’re talking. A lot of people are.. … Right now, There’re a lot of problems between India and Pakistan because of what just happened,” he said.

India rejects third-party mediation in its disputes with Pakistan, saying that it prefers bilateral talks. But it also refuses to do so, saying it wants Islamabad to tackle the militancy first. India’s stance creates a difficult situation for mediators who cannot publicly declare their efforts for improving ties between the two neighbours, lest it annoys India.

President Trump also acknowledged this in his remarks, saying that defusing tensions between India and Pakistan “is going to be a very, very delicate balance”.

While assuaging India’s feelings over the terrorist attack, President Trump also talked about a recent improvement of ties between the United States and Pakistan.

“I stopped paying Pakistan the $ 1.3 billion that we used to pay them. In the meantime, we may set up some meetings with Pakistan,” he said, but did not explain the nature, level or timings of those meetings.

Recently, a close Trump ally, Senator Lindsey Graham, urged the president to invite Prime Minister Khan to the White House. But Mr Trump’s emphasis on the suspended aid suggested that the meetings he mentioned may also focus on the resumption of financial assistance to Pakistan.

“Pakistan was taking very strong advantage of the United States under other presidents. We were paying Pakistan $1.3 billion a year. I ended that payment, because they were not helping us in a way that they should have,” said Mr Trump while explaining why he suspended the assistance.

Published in Dawn, February 24th, 2019