America stands ‘in solidarity’ with India and supports its ‘right to defend itself’, says U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth; Defence Minister Rajnath Singh points out that Pakistan has a ‘history’ of supporting and training terrorist organisations
The U.S. stands “in solidarity” with India and supports its “right to defend itself”, Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth said in a conversation with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, while the latter said Pakistan had a “history” of supporting, training and funding terrorist organisations, the first direct reference to Pakistan by a senior Minister in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack.
The call between the Defence Ministers came after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke to both External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, calling on India and Pakistan to “work together” to de-escalate tensions.
Meanwhile, the Indian Navy and the Pakistan Navy began simultaneous exercises in the Arabian Sea with both issuing ‘Nav Area’ warnings for the same speculations of possible punitive strikes by the Indian military and tense situation between the two countries. On the Line of Control (LoC), there was no let-up in Cease Fire Violations (CFV) which have been going on for a week now.
“Secretary Hegseth said the U.S. stands in solidarity with India and supports India’s right to defend itself. He reiterated the strong support of the U.S. government in India’s fight against terrorism,” Mr. Singh’s office said in a post on social media ‘X’. “During the conversation, Mr. Singh said that Pakistan has a history of supporting, training and funding terrorist organisations. He further said that it is important for the global community to explicitly and unequivocally condemn and call out such heinous acts of terrorism,” the post added.
“[I] Discussed the Pahalgam terrorist attack with U.S. Secretary of State Rubio,” Mr. Jaishankar wrote on his X account. “Its perpetrators, backers and planners must be brought to justice,” he added.
The U.S. State Department readout on the call said Mr. Rubio “expressed his sorrow for the lives lost in the horrific terrorist attack in Pahalgam, and reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to cooperation with India against terrorism,” adding that he “encouraged India to work with Pakistan to de-escalate tensions and maintain peace and security in South Asia”.
In his call to Mr. Sharif, Mr. Rubio spoke of the “need to condemn” the Pahalgam attack, and urged Pakistani officials’ “cooperation in investigating this unconscionable attack”.
Mr. Rubio’s note urging talks joined a number of other countries including the U.K., Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and others who have spoken at high levels in both Delhi and Islamabad, even as India prepares its next response to Pakistan over the Pahalgam attack.
Meanwhile, in Islamabad, a statement from Mr. Sharif’s office said the Pakistani Prime Minister had asked the U.S. to ask India to “dial down the rhetoric and act responsibly”.
A day after the terror attack on April 22 that left 26 dead, U.S. President Donald Trump spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi during which he strongly condemned the terror attack and expressed “full support” to India to “bring to justice” the perpetrators of this heinous attack.
Naval exercises
Since the Pahalgam terror attack, Pakistan issued area warning or NOTAMs (Notice to Airmen) for almost every day, while the Indian Navy too had carried out several missile firings.
India and Pakistan had issued area warning for exercises in the Arabian Sea, just 85 nautical miles apart. India had notified naval firing at four locations off Gujarat from April 30 to May 3, while Pakistan had notified naval drills from April 30 to May 2. On Thursday, Pakistan issued additional notifications for air/sea traffic for naval missile and gun firing in the upper reaches of the Arabian Sea near Ormara to its ongoing naval drills, air routes near Sonmiani missile test range also unavailable, as per opensource intelligence handle Damien Symon on ‘X’.
In a meeting with Mr. Singh, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Gen. Anil Chauhan and the three Service Chiefs, Mr. Modi gave “complete operational freedom” to the forces to decide on the mode, targets, and timing of Indian response.
On the LoC, the Army said Pakistan Army posts initiated unprovoked small-arms fire on the night of April 30 opposite the Kupwara, Uri and Akhnoor sectors and these were responded “proportionately.”
Pahalgam terror attack: India gets U.S. support in fight against terror
America stands ‘in solidarity’ with India and supports its ‘right to defend itself’, says U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth; Defence Minister Rajnath Singh points out that Pakistan has a ‘history’ of supporting and training terrorist organisations
The U.S. stands “in solidarity” with India and supports its “right to defend itself”, Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth said in a conversation with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, while the latter said Pakistan had a “history” of supporting, training and funding terrorist organisations, the first direct reference to Pakistan by a senior Minister in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack.
The call between the Defence Ministers came after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke to both External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, calling on India and Pakistan to “work together” to de-escalate tensions.
Meanwhile, the Indian Navy and the Pakistan Navy began simultaneous exercises in the Arabian Sea with both issuing ‘Nav Area’ warnings for the same speculations of possible punitive strikes by the Indian military and tense situation between the two countries. On the Line of Control (LoC), there was no let-up in Cease Fire Violations (CFV) which have been going on for a week now.
“Secretary Hegseth said the U.S. stands in solidarity with India and supports India’s right to defend itself. He reiterated the strong support of the U.S. government in India’s fight against terrorism,” Mr. Singh’s office said in a post on social media ‘X’. “During the conversation, Mr. Singh said that Pakistan has a history of supporting, training and funding terrorist organisations. He further said that it is important for the global community to explicitly and unequivocally condemn and call out such heinous acts of terrorism,” the post added.
“[I] Discussed the Pahalgam terrorist attack with U.S. Secretary of State Rubio,” Mr. Jaishankar wrote on his X account. “Its perpetrators, backers and planners must be brought to justice,” he added.
The U.S. State Department readout on the call said Mr. Rubio “expressed his sorrow for the lives lost in the horrific terrorist attack in Pahalgam, and reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to cooperation with India against terrorism,” adding that he “encouraged India to work with Pakistan to de-escalate tensions and maintain peace and security in South Asia”.
In his call to Mr. Sharif, Mr. Rubio spoke of the “need to condemn” the Pahalgam attack, and urged Pakistani officials’ “cooperation in investigating this unconscionable attack”.
Mr. Rubio’s note urging talks joined a number of other countries including the U.K., Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and others who have spoken at high levels in both Delhi and Islamabad, even as India prepares its next response to Pakistan over the Pahalgam attack.
Meanwhile, in Islamabad, a statement from Mr. Sharif’s office said the Pakistani Prime Minister had asked the U.S. to ask India to “dial down the rhetoric and act responsibly”.
A day after the terror attack on April 22 that left 26 dead, U.S. President Donald Trump spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi during which he strongly condemned the terror attack and expressed “full support” to India to “bring to justice” the perpetrators of this heinous attack.
Naval exercises
Since the Pahalgam terror attack, Pakistan issued area warning or NOTAMs (Notice to Airmen) for almost every day, while the Indian Navy too had carried out several missile firings.
India and Pakistan had issued area warning for exercises in the Arabian Sea, just 85 nautical miles apart. India had notified naval firing at four locations off Gujarat from April 30 to May 3, while Pakistan had notified naval drills from April 30 to May 2. On Thursday, Pakistan issued additional notifications for air/sea traffic for naval missile and gun firing in the upper reaches of the Arabian Sea near Ormara to its ongoing naval drills, air routes near Sonmiani missile test range also unavailable, as per opensource intelligence handle Damien Symon on ‘X’.
In a meeting with Mr. Singh, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Gen. Anil Chauhan and the three Service Chiefs, Mr. Modi gave “complete operational freedom” to the forces to decide on the mode, targets, and timing of Indian response.
On the LoC, the Army said Pakistan Army posts initiated unprovoked small-arms fire on the night of April 30 opposite the Kupwara, Uri and Akhnoor sectors and these were responded “proportionately.”
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