Rubio asks India, Pak to de-escalate but asks Sharif to stop support to terrorism

On May 8, United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke to Indian external affairs minister S Jaishankar and Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. While he urged both to immediately de-escalate hostilities, there were significant differences in the messaging over terrorism for Pakistan as compared to India.

In his conversation with Jaishankar, the secretary said he reiterated his condolences for the horrific terror attack in Pahalgam and reaffirmed the US commitment to work with India in the fight against terrorism.

The message for Sharif was rather different. “The secretary expressed sorrow for the reported loss of civilian lives in the current conflict. He reiterated his calls for Pakistan to take concrete steps to end any support to terrorist groups.”

This makes it clear that while Rubio urged India and Pakistan to de-escalate and avoid war, he inplied that Islamabad is promoting terrorist groups. On the other hand, US was prepared to make common cause with India to fight terrorism. The distinction was evident and significant.

The de-escalation mantra too echoes India’s view that Pakistan has an “off ramp” to get out of the military cycle and let things cool down. India has made both things clear. One, it has hit terror targets and this could see it as just retribution. The way forward was meaningful steps on part of Pakistan to control terror groups operating from its soil. Second, if it did not do so and chose to up the ante, India was prepared for the escalation.

As of now, India has responded to drone attacks launched by Pakistan along the western border byt counter strikes using like loitering ammunition. Should any of the Pakistan drone attacks succeed in damaging a military installation or a civilian area, the Indian response will be qualitatively different.

The view in Indian strategic circles is that further provocation could lead to more losses for Pakistan. India is okay with providing Pakistan an off ramp but is in no mood to facilitate a “face saver” for its Army chief Gen Asim Munir, seen to be a zealot, and often described as an Osama bin Laden in uniform.

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