India and Pakistan will figure out relations between themselves, US President Donald Trump said on Friday as tensions soared between the two neighboring countries after an attack in the Indian-Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir that was the worst in nearly two decades. Trump, speaking to reporters on Air Force One, cited historical conflict in the disputed border region and said he knew both countries’ leaders, but did not answer when asked whether he would contact them. Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Trump said in response to a question about the situation that tensions between the nations had existed for “;1,500 years, so you know, the same as it’s been”. He added: “;But, they’ll get it figured out, one way or the other, I’m sure of that. There’s been great tension between Pakistan and India, but there always has been.”
When asked if he would speak to either Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif or Narendra Modi, Trump replied, “;I am very close to India and I’;m very close to Pakistan as you know,” adding that the Kashmir dispute had been ongoing “;for a thousand years, probably longer than that”.
In a briefing on Thursday, US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce had also touched on the crisis brewing in South Asia.
“;It’s a rapidly changing situation and we are monitoring it closely … We are not now taking a position on the status of Kashmir or Jammu,” she said, adding that this was all she had to say on the subject.
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres had also urged Pakistan and India to show “;maximum restraint”.
“;The secretary general is obviously following the situation very closely and with very great concern,” his spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York on Thursday.
“;We very much appeal to both the governments … to exercise maximum restraint, and to ensure that the situation and the developments we’ve seen do not deteriorate any further.”
To a question, the spokesman said that the UN chief has not had any direct contact with the leadership of India and Pakistan.
Dujarric said: “;We believe that any issues between Pakistan and India can be and should be resolved peacefully through meaningful mutual engagement.”
Specifically asked to comment on the suspension by India of the Indus Waters Treaty, Dujarric said, “;I think this would go under the rubric of us appealing for maximum restraint and not taking any actions that would deteriorate the situation further or increase tensions in a tense area.”
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