The US is in touch with both India and Pakistan in a bid to de-escalate tensions in the wake of April 22, Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir which claimed 26 lives, even as Pakistan continued ceasefire violations along LoC for fourth consecutive night.
The US state department urged both sides to work towards what it called a "responsible solution."
In public, the US government has expressed support for India after the attack but has not criticised Pakistan.
"This is an evolving situation and we are monitoring developments closely. We have been in touch with the governments of India and Pakistan at multiple levels," a US State Department spokesperson told Reuters in an emailed statement.
The State Department spokesperson also said Washington "stands with India and strongly condemns the terrorist attack in Pahalgam," reiterating comments similar to recent ones made by President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance.
China on Sunday, according to reports, backed its close ally Pakistan in safeguarding its sovereignty and security interests, with foreign minister Wang Yi calling on New Delhi and Islamabad to exercise restrain in the aftermath of the terror attack in Pahalgam.
During a phone call with his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar, Wang said China is closely following developments after the terror attack and backs an “impartial investigation” into the incident, according to a readout from China’s foreign ministry, The Hindustan Times reported.
Iran on Friday reached out to the two countries to de-escalate the situation.
Breaking his silence amid escalating India-Pakistan tension, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday said the country was open to any “neutral and transparent” investigation into the Pahalgam terror strike.
Shehbaz’s statement came a day after Defence Minister Khawaja Asif told the New York Times in an interview that Pakistan was “ready to cooperate” with “any investigation which is conducted by international inspectors”.
After the terror attack, India has formally notified its decision to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty with immediate effect, and downgraded diplomatic ties with Islamabad.
In response, Pakistan on Thursday shut its airspace to Indian airliners and suspended all trade with India, including through third countries.
A little known outfit, The Resistance Front, an offshoot of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) initially claimed responsibility for the terror attack. Later on, the outfit unequivocally denied any involvement in the Pahalgam attack. Any attribution of this act to TRF is false, hasty, and part of an orchestrated campaign to malign the Kashmiri resistance,” the outfit claimed.
It added that an “unauthorised” message was posted from one of their digital platforms claiming responsibility after the Pahalgam attack.
“After an internal audit, we have reason to believe it was the result of a coordinated cyber intrusion. We are conducting a full investigation to trace the breach, and early indicators suggest fingerprints of Indian cyber-intelligence operatives,” the terror outfit said.
Pakistan and India also exchanged gunfire for a fourth night in a row across their de facto border, the Line of Control (LoC), after four years of relative calm, the Dawn reported.
“During the night of April 27-28… Pakistan Army posts initiated unprovoked small arms fire across the Line of Control”, the Indian army claimed in a statement.
There were no reported casualties, and Islamabad did not immediately confirm the gunfire, the Dawn report added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has vowed 'harshest punishment' for the conspirators and justice for the kin of the dead. In a message posted on platform X, the Indian Prime Minister affirmed: "They (terrorists) will not be spared! Their evil agenda will never succeed. Our resolve to fight terrorism is unshakable and it will get even stronger."
