President Donald Trump has been shaking up how the United States does business in the world. But with the violence between Pakistan and India, Trump has marked a return to a traditional, and even cautious, diplomacy.
The US across successive administrations has sought to build ties with India and Trump voiced solidarity after gunmen killed 26 people in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
Trump did not criticise India after it carried out strikes against Pakistan but has pleaded for a quick resolution.
“It’s so terrible,” Trump said on Wednesday. “I get along with both. I know both very well, and I want to see them work it out. I want to see them stop.”
India briefed Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is also interim national security advisor, on the overnight strikes.
After the Pahalgam attack, Rubio spoke to Pakistan’s prime minister to urge condemnation and cooperation but also asked India’s foreign minister to avoid escalation.
Lisa Curtis, who was the National Security Council senior director on South Asia during Trump’s first term, said the United States remained unique in its influence on both sides.
“There are other countries that are worried and may be in touch with their Indian and Pakistani counterparts, but when it comes down to it, it is the role and responsibility of the United States to help the countries find a face-saving way out of the crisis,” said Curtis, now a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security.
In 2019, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also ordered strikes after a deadly attack.
Mike Pompeo, then Trump’s secretary of state, later said that he defused tensions after an Indian official contacted him to voice suspicion that Pakistan was readying a nuclear strike.
“I do not think the world properly knows just how close the India-Pakistan rivalry came to spilling over into a nuclear conflagration,” Pompeo wrote in his memoir.
Placing priorities
Trump has largely sidelined career diplomats since his return, relying on his friend Steve Witkoff to crisscross the globe.
Trump has so far failed in his quest to quickly end the Ukraine war, with Witkoff still pursuing diplomacy with Iran and recently reaching a deal with Yemen’s Huthi rebels.
“The Trump administration has several global crises to deal with currently and would like to avoid another one right now,” said Aparna Pande, a research fellow at the Hudson Institute.
“The Trump administration would also like the focus to remain on trade and commerce and the competition with China and any conflict detracts India, a partner in this endeavor, away from these efforts,” she said.
