US President Donald Trump said on Thursday he hoped the conflict between India and Pakistan will be coming to an end after the two nuclear powers clashed across a contested border in the disputed Kashmir region.
Speaking at a news conference in Vietnam after a second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Trump said he had some “reasonably decent” news from India and Pakistan. He did not elaborate.
World powers have urged restraint as tensions escalate following tit-for-tat air strikes this week after a suicide car bombing that killed at least 40 Indian paramilitary police in Kashmir on February 14.
Indian and Pakistani troops traded fire briefly along the border in Kashmir on Thursday morning, a day after the two nuclear powers both downed enemy jets, with Pakistan capturing an Indian pilot.
India’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday it had told Pakistan’s acting high commissioner that New Delhi expects the immediate and safe return of a military pilot held by Pakistan.
India and Pakistan both said they shot down each other’s fighter jets on Wednesday, a day after Indian warplanes struck inside Pakistan for the first time since the 1971 war, prompting world powers to urge restraint.
India said it had lost one of its planes in combat with Pakistan over Kashmir and a pilot was missing. It summoned Pakistan’s acting envoy to serve a diplomatic demarche.
“It was made clear that Pakistan would be well advised to ensure that no harm comes to the Indian defense personnel in its custody. India also expects his immediate and safe return,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
The United States, China and other world powers have urged restraint from the two nations as tensions escalate following tit-for-tat airstrikes in the wake of a suicide car bombing that killed at least 40 Indian paramilitary police in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Feb. 14.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has called for talks.
“History tells us that wars are full of miscalculation. My question is that, given the weapons we have, can we afford miscalculation,” Khan said during a brief televised broadcast to the nation. “We should sit down and talk.”
Pakistan and India have fought three wars since independence from British colonial rule in 1947, two over Kashmir, and went to the brink of a fourth in 2002 after a Pakistani militant attack on India’s parliament.