President Donald Trump has significantly altered the way the United States conducts international business. However, with the escalating violence between Pakistan and India, Trump has signaled a return to more traditional, and even cautious, diplomatic practices.
Successive US administrations have sought to strengthen ties with India, and Trump himself expressed solidarity following the deaths of 26 people in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
While Trump did not criticize India for its strikes against Pakistan, he has urged both nations to seek a swift resolution.
“It’s so terrible,” Trump said on Wednesday. “I get along with both. I know both very well, and I want to see them work it out. I want to see them stop.”
India provided a briefing to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is also serving as interim national security advisor, regarding the overnight strikes.
Following the Pahalgam attack, Rubio contacted Pakistan’s prime minister to encourage condemnation and cooperation, while also asking India’s foreign minister to avoid further escalation.
Lisa Curtis, who served as the National Security Council’s senior director for South Asia during Trump’s first term, emphasized that the United States holds a unique position of influence with both countries.
“There are other countries that are worried and may be in touch with their Indian and Pakistani counterparts, but when it comes down to it, it is the role and responsibility of the United States to help the countries find a face-saving way out of the crisis,” said Curtis, now a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security.
In 2019, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also authorized strikes following a deadly attack.
Mike Pompeo, then Trump’s secretary of state, later revealed that he helped de-escalate tensions after an Indian official contacted him with concerns that Pakistan was preparing a nuclear strike.
“I do not think the world properly knows just how close the India-Pakistan rivalry came to spilling over into a nuclear conflagration,” Pompeo wrote in his memoir.
Setting Priorities
Trump has largely sidelined career diplomats since his return, relying instead on his friend Steve Witkoff to conduct international outreach.
Trump’s efforts to quickly resolve the Ukraine war have so far been unsuccessful, and Witkoff is currently engaged in diplomatic efforts with Iran and recently brokered a deal with Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
“The Trump administration has several global crises to deal with currently and would like to avoid another one right now,” said Aparna Pande, a research fellow at the Hudson Institute.
“The Trump administration would also like the focus to remain on trade and commerce and the competition with China and any conflict detracts India, a partner in this endeavor, away from these efforts,” she said.
