WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Friday downplayed concerns over mounting tensions between India and Pakistan, saying the dispute between the nuclear-armed neighbors will get “figured out, one way or another.”

Trump was asked aboard Air Force One about crumbling relations between India and Pakistan as the fallout deepens from a deadly attack on civilians by gunmen in Indian-held Kashmir.

“There have been tensions on that border for 1,500 years so, you know, it’s the same as it has been,” Trump told reporters.

“There’s great tension between Pakistan and India but there always has been,” Trump said, adding, “But they’ll get it figured out, one way or another”.

Meanwhile, US spy chief Tulsi Gabbard on Friday offered to help India hunt down those responsible for this week’s terrorist attack in Pahalgam.

Held Kashmir attack generates wave of sympathy for India among US officials

“We stand in solidarity with India in the wake of the horrific Islamist terrorist attack, targeting and killing 26 Hindus in Pahalgam,” Gabbard said in a post on X.

“My prayers and deepest sympathies are with those who lost a loved one, PM Narendra Modi, and with all the people of India. We are with you and support you as you hunt down those responsible for this heinous attack,” she said.

Soon after her post, Indian media reported that Gabbard, who oversees all US intelligence agencies as Director of National Intelligence, also sent a similar message to Modi, reiterating US commitment to help India trace the perpetrators of Tuesday’s terrorist attack.

She wrote that America stands in solidarity with India in the wake of the horrific terrorist attack.

A US network, National Public Radio (NPR), noted: “India has not, so far, presented public evidence of Pakistani involvement in the attack. India’s right-wing news channels have blamed Pakistan and featured calls for retaliation.”

But some Indian defence analysts caution against armed action.

Still, the attack has prompted a string of sympathetic statements for India from US leaders.

US Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a post on X that “America stands with our dear friends in India and against terrorism in all its forms.”

New York Senator and the Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said there could be “no tolerance for the hatred that breeds this kind of unjustifiable violence.”

Congressman Tom Suozzi, who recently visited Pakistan, condemned the attack and said, “There is no place for terrorism in our world. It must be stopped.”

Senator Jeanne Shaheen, Ranking Member of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said: “I hope the authorities will bring the perpetrators to justice.”

With input from AFP

Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2025