US Says It Won’t ‘Get In The Middle’, Urges Dialogue For Resolving India-Pakistan Tensions

The United States said it will stay out of the issues causing tensions between India and Pakistan while urging both sides to avoid escalation of tensions and resolve differences via dialogue.

“We’re not going to get in the middle of this situation, we encourage both sides to avoid escalation and find a resolution through dialogue,” US state department spokesman Matthew Miller said during a press briefing.

Miller’s answer was in response to a question by a reporter who wanted to know the US’ stance on the Guardian report which citing Pakistani officials said that India killed individuals associated with terrorism and extremism inside Pakistani territory in an extrajudicial manner. Indian officials have described the report as “false and fabricated”.

Pakistan said that ‘hostile’ individuals were eliminated by India on Pakistani soil.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Sunday told Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif that dialogue was needed to resolve “heightened friction” between Pakistan and India during a meeting in Riyadh.

“The two sides stressed the importance of dialogue between Pakistan and India to resolve the outstanding issues between the two countries, especially the Jammu and Kashmir dispute to ensure peace and stability in the region,” a joint statement released by Pakistan’s foreign office and the Saudi government, accessed by Reuters, said.

Tensions between both countries remain high as Pakistan continues to support terrorism through its deep state and uses terror as part of its statecraft to create instability in Jammu and Kashmir as well as in other parts of the subcontinent.

India in the past has rejected offers from third parties to mediate between India and Pakistan and has maintained that issues between both neighbours should be resolved through bilateral discussions.

India has also maintained that no discussions will take place until Islamabad stops using terrorism as a foreign policy tool to create instability in the border areas. It also outlined that no discussions can take place if Islamabad keeps opposing the abrogation of Article 370.