India-Pakistan conflict is ‘none of our business’: US Vice-President Vance
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New Delhi: US Vice-President J D Vance made it clear that the US would not intervene directly in the ongoing tension between India and Pakistan following India’s military response to terrorist attack in Pahalgam.
JD Vance told a television interview on Friday that the US is not going to ‘get involved’ in the midst of ‘a war’ which is ‘fundamentally none of our businesses’.
He added, however, that ‘we’re concerned any time nuclear powers collide and have a major conflict’.
India launched measured strikes on terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir a fortnight after terrorists killed 26 people in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir.
Pakistan on Thursday night sent missiles and drones to attack several of India’s military bases including Jammu, Pathankot, Udhampur and other locations.
India’s air defence systems thwarted all these attempts with New Delhi later saying that the country is ‘fully prepared to defend its sovereignty and ensure the safety of its people’.
Vance who was visiting Indian when the Pahalgam massacre took place termed the current situation a regional dispute, adding that ‘We can’t control these countries’.
Acknowledging the gravity of the situation he said. ‘Fundamentally, India has its gripes with Pakistan. Pakistan has responded to India. What we can do is try to encourage these folks to de-escalate a little bit.’
While saying that Washington is watching the situation with concern, Vance added that the US cannot ‘tell the Indians to lay down their arms. We can’t tell the Pakistanis to lay down their arms. And so we’re going to continue to pursue this thing through diplomatic channels’.
Vance hoped that the situation would not spiral into ‘broader regional war’ or ‘a nuclear conflict’, adding the job of diplomacy is to stop that from happening.
