‘Hope it ends quickly,’ Trump on India-Pakistan escalation

Yashwant Raj

Washington, May 7 (IANS) US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said the Indian strikes on Pakistan were expected and that it’s his “hope it ends very quickly.”

The Indian embassy in Washington DC also said in a statement that India’s National Security Adviser, Ajit Doval, briefed Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who holds additional charge as the National Security Adviser, about the strikes.

“It’s a shame,” President Trump said at an unrelated White House interaction with news reporters.

“We just heard about it as we were walking through the doors of the Oval ... They've been fighting for a long time. ... I just hope it ends very quickly.”

The Indian embassy said, “Shortly after the strikes, NSA Ajit Doval spoke with US NSA and Secretary of State Marco Rubio and briefed him on the actions taken.”

It added: “India’s actions have been focused and precise. They were measured, responsible and designed to be non-escalatory in nature. No Pakistani civilian, economic or military targets have been hit. Only known terror camps were targeted.”

The Embassy said India has “credible leads, technical inputs, testimony of the survivors and other evidence pointing towards the clear involvement of Pakistan-based terrorists in this attack” and that Pakistan was expected to take action against the perpetrators.

“Instead, during the fortnight that has gone by. Pakistan has indulged in denial and allegations of false flag operations against India.”

President Trump’s remarks were the first by an American official after the strikes. Earlier, Tammy Bruce, the state department spokesperson, told reporters that the situation between India and Pakistan was “a dynamic, serious issue”.

Earlier, the Indian Army said that it has hit nine locations deep inside Pakistan in retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack.

“A little while ago, the Indian Armed Forces launched ‘Operation Sindoor’, hitting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir from where terrorist attacks against India have been planned and directed,” the army in a press release said.

The Indian Army also posted on its official X handle, “Justice is Served. Jai Hind.”

“Altogether, nine (9) sites have been targeted. Our actions have been focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature. No Pakistani military facilities have been targeted. India has demonstrated considerable restraint in the selection of targets and the method of execution,” the army said.

It added that these steps come in the wake of the barbaric Pahalgam terrorist attack in which 25 Indians and one Nepali citizen were murdered.

“We are living up to the commitment that those responsible for this attack will be held accountable. There will be a detailed briefing on ‘Operation Sindoor’, later today,” the army said.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry also confirmed the strike on his country.

“The missile strikes were fired by India at Kotli, Bahwalpur and Muzaffarabad in a cowardly attack amid intense tensions between the two countries in the wake of a militant attack in occupied Kashmir,” the Pakistan army confirmed.

The tension between the two nuclear nations comes in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 civilians were killed, mostly tourists.