Washington, Feb 23: US President Donald Trump has described as “very dangerous” the situation between India and Pakistan after the Pulwama suicide attack, but said he can understand New Delhi’s desire for something “very strong” as it has lost almost 50 people.
Forty-nine CRPF personnel were killed and five injured on February 14 in one of the deadliest attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a suicide bomber of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) militant group rammed a vehicle carrying a huge quantity of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.
India launched a major diplomatic offensive against Islamabad after the attack and highlighted Pakistan’s role in “using terrorism as an instrument of state policy”.
The international community led by the US pressed Pakistan to deny “safe haven to terror groups operating form its soil” and bring the perpetrators of the Pulwama attack to justice.
Trump, after his meeting with a visiting Chinese trade delegation led by Vice Premier Liu He, told reporters in the Oval Office of the White House on Friday that “in Kashmir, it’s very dangerous”.
The President referred to the possibility of a strong response from India in the wake of the Pulwama attack.
“India is looking at something very strong. And I mean, India just lost almost 50 people with an attack. So, I could understand that also,” he said when asked about India’s right to self-defence.
Responding to questions on the tense situation between the two South Asian neighbours, Trump said the US is talking about it so does some other nations, without mentioning them.
“We are talking and a lot of people are talking. But, it is a very, very delicate balance going on right now. There’s a lot of problems between India and Pakistan because of what just happened,” said the US President.
“We’re very much involved in that, if that’s what you’re referring to,” he said.
Trump described the current situation between India and Pakistan as very dangerous.
“It’s a terrible thing going on right now between Pakistan and India… it is a very, very bad situation and it’s a very dangerous situation between the two countries. We would like to see it stopped. A lot of people were just killed and we want to see it stopped,” he said.
Trump claimed that his administration has developed a much better relationship with Pakistan, even after he stopped USD 1.3 billion in financial aid to Islamabad.
“I stopped Pakistan, the USD 1.3 billion that we were paying them. In the meantime, we may set up some meetings with Pakistan.
“Pakistan was taking very strong advantage of the United States under other presidents and we were paying Pakistan 1.3 billion a year. I ended that payment to Pakistan because they weren’t helping us in a way that they should have. And honestly, we’ve developed a much better relationship with Pakistan over the last short period of time than we had,” Trump said.
In the wake of the Pulwama attack, US National Security Adviser John Bolton told his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval last week that America supports India’s right to self-defence as both sides vowed to work together to ensure that Pakistan ceases to be a “safe haven for JeM and other terror groups”.
India has asked Pakistan to take immediate and verifiable action against “terrorists and terror groups operating from territories under its control”.
New Delhi also announced the withdrawal of the Most Favoured Nation status for Pakistan and hiked the customs duty by 200 percent on goods originating from Pakistan.
