The US has nudged India and Pakistan to work with each other to de-escalate tensions in the subcontinent following the Pahalgam terror strike.

US secretary of state Marco Rubio communicated this message in back-to-back calls to Indian external affairs minister S. Jaishankar and Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday.

On Thursday, US defence secretary Pete Hegseth spoke to defence minister Rajnath Singh and said “the US stands in solidarity with India and supports India’s right to defend itself”, Rajnath posted on X.

To Jaishankar, Rubio reaffirmed Washington’s commitment to cooperation with India against terrorism and encouraged New Delhi “to work with Pakistan to de-escalate tensions and maintain peace and security in South Asia”, a statement put out by state department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said.

Jaishankar’s post on X on the conversation with Rubio appeared to indicate a difference of opinion between the two capitals.

“Discussed the Pahalgam terrorist attack with U.S. @SecRubio yesterday. Its perpetrators, backers and planners must be brought to justice,” he wrote.

The government has been repeating this stand and Prime Minister Narendra Modi too has said that the Pahalgam perpetrators would be hunted down wherever they are. However, the absence of any visible military action — as opposed to the diplomatic measures announced — has begun to cause consternation, especially within the BJP’s core constituency.

Rajnath, in a post on X, said Hegseth had “expressed his deepest sympathies” for the Pahalgam victims.

“The US secretary of defence Pete Hegseth spoke to Raksha Mantri @rajnath Singh earlier today and expressed his deepest sympathies for the tragic loss of innocent civilians in the dastardly terror attack in Pahalgam. Secretary Hegseth said that the U.S. stands in solidarity with India and supports India’s right to defend itself,” Rajnath posted.

Rajnath’s post added: “During the conversation, Singh told THE @SecDef 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.”

In his conversation with Pakistan Prime Minister Sharif, Rubio stressed the need to condemn the Pahalgam terror attack. The Pakistan foreign ministry statement had, while expressing condolences, made no mention of terrorism.

It had said: “We are concerned at the loss of tourists’ lives in an attack in Anantnag district of Jammu & Kashmir. We extend our condolences to the near ones of the deceased and wish the injured a speedy recovery.”

Rubio encouraged Sharif to “work with India to de-escalate tensions, re-establish direct communications, and maintain peace and security in South Asia”.

India and Pakistan have not had any diplomatic engagement for close to a decade since the terror attack on an Indian army post in Uri. India’s position has since then been that talks and terror cannot go together.

According to US state department spokesperson Bruce, “both leaders reaffirmed their continued commitment to holding terrorists accountable for their heinous acts of violence” and “the Secretary urged Pakistani officials’ cooperation in investigating this unconscionable attack”.

India’s external affairs ministry did not respond to the US state department’s readout in general, or to specific questions about the US asking India to “work with Pakistan to de-escalate tensions”.

Rubio’s intervention came a day after Modi had given full operational freedom to the armed forces to determine the “mode, targets, and timing of India’s response”.

The US is not alone in urging India and Pakistan to work together to ease tensions.

China – with which Washington has differences on various issues – too has called for de-escalation while making it clear that it supports Islamabad’s legitimate security concerns and backs Pakistan in safeguarding its sovereignty and security interests.

Korea outreach

India on Thursday reached out to South Korea as part of its diplomatic campaign to inform the non-permanent members of the UN Security Council about the Pahalgam terror attack and its cross-border linkages, a PTIreport said.