US Vice President JD Vance stated on Thursday that India and Pakistan should reduce tensions, adding that the US cannot control the nuclear-armed Asian neighbors and a war between them would be “none of our business.”
“We want this thing to de-escalate as quickly as possible. We can’t control these countries, though,” Vance said in an interview on Fox News’ “The Story with Martha MacCallum.”
“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 a war that’s fundamentally none of our business and has nothing to do with America’s ability to control it,” he added.
India is a crucial partner for Washington, which aims to counter China’s growing influence, while Pakistan remains a US ally despite its diminished importance after Washington’s withdrawal from neighboring Afghanistan in 2021.
Analysts and some former officials have suggested that US involvement in achieving diplomatic goals in Russia’s war in Ukraine and Israel’s war in Gaza may leave Washington less able to exert direct pressure on India and Pakistan in the early stages of their tensions.
Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said further retaliation was “increasingly certain” on Thursday, the second day of major clashes. Two days of fighting resulted in nearly four dozen deaths.
The latest escalation in the decades-old India-Pakistan rivalry began on May 7, when at least 31 civilians were killed in an unprovoked Indian cross-border attack. In response, Pakistan downed five Indian fighter jets, including three Rafales, and dozens of drones.
India claimed it targeted terrorist hideouts inside Pakistan in response to the April 22 militant attack that killed 26 people in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir, which New Delhi blamed on Islamabad. Islamabad denied the accusations and called for a neutral probe.
“Our hope and our expectation is that this is not going to spiral into a broader regional war or, God forbid, a nuclear conflict,” Vance said on Thursday.
Washington has held regular talks with both countries in recent days, including on Thursday when Secretary of State Marco Rubio held calls with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and India’s foreign minister, urging them to de-escalate and engage in direct dialogue.
US President Donald Trump called the rising tensions a “shame.” On Wednesday, he expressed hope that the two countries would cease their “tit-for-tat” actions. The State Department urged both countries to work towards what Washington terms a “responsible solution.”
