President Donald Trump said he feels India and Pakistan are on the cusp of de-escalation a day after Islamabad said it had fired into Indian territory, shot down IAF aircraft and captured an Indian pilot.
Islamabad had claimed that its actions were in retaliation to India's act of intruding into Pakistan airspace on Tuesday.
Trump told reporters Thursday at the end of a two-day summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Vietnam that India and Pakistan have "been going at it" and that the US has been involved, "trying to help them both out" to "see if we can get some organization and some peace."
He said: "I think probably that's (peace) going to be happening," adding: "We have, I think, reasonably attractive news from Pakistan and India."
World powers have called on the two nations to de-escalate tensions that have gripped the region since a February 14 suicide car bombing in Pulwama killed over 40 CRPF personnel. The situation escalated with Wednesday's aerial skirmish.
The US had earlier asked asked Pakistan to abide by its UN Security Council commitments to deny terrorists safe haven and block their access to funds.
This US statement came after India on Wednesday handed over to Pakistan a dossier with specific details of involvement of the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) in the Pulwama terror attack.
Pakistan's ambassador to the United States had earlier criticised the US for its failure in condeming India's Tuesday airstrike on Balakot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Ambassador Asad Majeed Khan told reporters in Washington Wednesday that the US response to the airstrike was "construed and understood as an endorsement of the Indian position, and that is what emboldened them even more."
Ambassador Khan also repeated Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan's assertions that Pakistan has made a "sincere" offer to investigate the Pulwama suicide bombing.
He said Pakistan wants "dialogue" with India and not war, but noted that the prime minister has authorised Pakistan's armed forces of Pakistan to respond "decisively and comprehensively to any aggression."