India-Pak need to de-escalate but the war is none of our business: Vance
US Vice President J D Vance
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The US has distanced itself from India and Pakistan’s ongoing military tensions with Vice President J D Vance emphasising that the war was none of Washington’s business. But it has continued to call for de-escalation “as soon as possible”.
Experts say that the US does not want to get embroiled in another war given its lack of success in stopping the ones US President Donald Trump vowed to put an end to. The Trump regime’s focus on immediate economic and business gains, rather than diplomacy, is seen as another reason for the distanced approach.
”What we can do is try to encourage these folks to de-escalate a little bit, but we’re not going to get involved in the middle of war that’s fundamentally none of our business and has nothing to do with America’s ability to control it,” Vance said in a media interview.
He added that the US wanted the situation to de-escalate as quickly as possible but it can’t control these countries.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday emphasising the need for immediate de-escalation. He also offered US support for direct dialogue between India and Pakistan, according to the US government.
“The USA does not want to get embroiled having seen limited results in the two ongoing wars that Trump vowed to stop . But they will continue to keep track of the escalation in India-Pak conflagration so that it does not graduate into a nuclear one,” according to Anil Trigunayat, former Indian Ambassador. Trump had vowed to end the ongoing wars in Ukraine and Gaza.
At the same time this is a defining moment for the USA itself and will reveal how it sees itself in a multipolar world–one among many or `primus inter-pares’, he added .
Another diplomatic source pointed out that the Trump regime did not seem to care much about retaining US’ soft power and was mostly invested in transactional pursuits. “India cannot expect the US to take its side and censure Pakistan or even China if it turns out that Beijing is carrying out a proxy war against India. After such a serious face-off with China, the Trump government is now trying to strike a trade deal with it. So, it will not turn against it just for India’s sake,” the source said.
Military tensions
The escalation in military tensions between India and Pakistan happened on early Wednesday morning when India sent missiles across the border targeting nine terrorist infrastructure sites to avenge the killing of 26 civilians, mostly tourists, by terrorists in Pahalgam on April 22.
Pakistan denied India’s allegations that it supported the terrorists but India said that the country clearly backed the perpetrators.
Since Wednesday there has been shelling and aerial attacks from both sides and many in the border areas have lost their lives.
Pakistan has been a close ally of the US, especially during the Cold War era, but after US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, its strategic value has somewhat decreased. India, too, is a key partner for the US, both as a strong economic partner and also as a strategic ally in countering China’s increasing influence globally and in the Indo Pacific region.
Published on May 9, 2025
