Referring to the conflict between India and Pakistan, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that US President Donald Trump has “prioritized his role as a peacemaker.” Trump has claimed many times about his role in resolving the conflict between India and Pakistan. He has made this claim about 70 times so far.
Rubio said the United States is taking an active role around the world and has also played a role in resolving conflicts that “may not be as important to everyday life in America.”
“The President has prioritized the role of peacemaker, and that’s why you’ve seen us play an important role in trying to end the current challenges, such as the conflicts in Russia, Ukraine, India and Pakistan or Thailand and Cambodia,” Rubio said at a news conference Friday. He said some of the conflicts the United States has resolved have roots “that go back many years, but we stand ready to help resolve them.”
After the death of 26 civilians in the terrorist attack on April 22 in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, India launched ‘Operation Sindoor’ on the intervening night of May 6-7 and targeted terrorist structures in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
India and Pakistan agreed to end the conflict on May 10 after four days of cross-border drone and missile attacks. India has consistently denied any third party intervention in the resolution of the conflict.
Responding to a question on relations between China and Japan, Rubio said, “We understand that it is important to maintain balance in that region. We strongly believe that while we continue our strong and solid partnership and alliance with Japan, we can also find practical and positive ways to work together with the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese government.” He said China will remain a prosperous and powerful country and will continue to play an important role in geopolitics.
“We have to engage with them and talk to them. We have to find areas on which we can work together. I believe both sides are mature enough to accept that there will remain some points of tension in the times to come,” he said. He said that China and America need to explore opportunities to work together.
“I think we can do this without jeopardizing or in any way weakening our steadfast commitment to our partners in the Indo-Pacific region,” he said. This includes not only Japan but also South Korea and if we go further, India, Australia, New Zealand and all other countries also come into this.
When asked whether the US has received Pakistan’s consent to send peacekeeping troops to Gaza, Rubio said the countries with whom Washington has discussed presence on the ground all want to know what the specific mandate will be and what the funding arrangements will be. “We are grateful to Pakistan that it has offered to join or at least consider it,” he said.
