US Urges India and Pakistan to Cool Tensions After Kashmir Terror Attack

Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar says the ‘perpetrators, backers and planners’ of the Kashmir terrorist attack must be brought to justice.

A Pakistani paramilitary soldier stands guard at a checkpoint in Wagah, a joint border crossing point on the Pakistan and India border, near Lahore, Pakistan, on April 30, 2025. K.M. Chaudary/AP

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called Pakistan’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, and India’s foreign minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, urging the two countries to deescalate tensions over Kashmir, the State Department said on April 30.

Tensions between India and Pakistan have risen following a terrorist attack on April 22, which killed 26 tourists in India-administered Kashmir.

The Indian army issued a statement on May 1 saying it had responded to “unprovoked” small arms fire from Pakistani troops in the Kupwara, Uri, and Akhnoor districts of Kashmir.

India and Pakistan both have nuclear weapons.

In a statement, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said: “The secretary 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.

“He also encouraged India to work with Pakistan to de-escalate tensions and maintain peace and security in South Asia.”

Jaishankar wrote on the social media platform X on May 1: “Discussed the Pahalgam terrorist attack with Secretary Rubio yesterday. Its perpetrators, backers and planners must be brought to justice.”

Pakistan has denied any connection to the April 22 attack by gunmen, for which a previously unknown group called the Kashmir Resistance, also known as The Resistance Front, has claimed responsibility.

India has suggested that the group is an offshoot of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a terrorist group that has in the past attacked the Indian military and police in Kashmir.

Pakistan Urged to Condemn Attack

In a statement, Bruce said of Rubio’s conversation with Sharif: “The secretary spoke of the need to condemn the terror attack on April 22 in Pahalgam. Both leaders reaffirmed their continued commitment to holding terrorists accountable for their heinous acts of violence.”

She said Rubio urged Pakistan to cooperate in investigating the attack.

“He also encouraged Pakistan to work with India to de-escalate tensions, re-establish direct communications, and maintain peace and security in South Asia,” Bruce said.

A Pakistani government statement said that Rubio “emphasized the need for both sides to continue working together for peace and stability in South Asia.”

But Pakistan said that during the conversation, Sharif rejected the Indian allegations and “urged the U.S. to impress upon India to dial down the rhetoric and act responsibly.”

On April 29, Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar wrote on X, “Pakistan has credible intelligence that India intends carrying out military action against Pakistan in the next 24–36 hours on the pretext of baseless and concocted allegations of involvement in the Pahalgam incident.”

Tarar accused India of taking on the role of “judge, jury and executioner” and accused New Delhi of being “reckless.”

In retaliation for measures that India took on April 23—including suspending the Indus Waters Treaty, revoking visas for Pakistani nationals, and closing the main border crossing—Pakistan retaliated by canceling visas issued to Indian nationals, closing its airspace to Indian airlines, and suspending all trade with India.

Kashmir has been disputed between India and Pakistan since 1947, when the British Empire withdrew from the subcontinent, leaving the region’s future uncertain.

India controls the majority of Kashmir, but Pakistan administers the northern and western areas, and China controls territory in the east, some of which was ceded by Pakistan.

Kashmir’s Ladakh region borders China, which has, in recent years, become politically and economically close to Pakistan through Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative.

India and Pakistan have fought at least two wars—most notably in 1971, when India helped Bangladesh become independent from Pakistan—and have frequently clashed in the mountains of Kashmir.

Indian Navy Drills

India’s navy has issued warnings about live-fire drills it is conducting in the Arabian Sea, off the coast of the Indian state of Gujarat, which borders Pakistan.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi—who hails from Gujarat and was the state’s chief minister before he became prime minister—told a public meeting in the state of Bihar on April 24 that the terrorists and their backers would be punished “beyond their imagination.”

“We will pursue them to the ends of the Earth,” he said.

U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House in Washington on Feb. 13, 2025. Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

India says it has identified the three gunmen, two of whom it says are Pakistani nationals.

The Jammu and Kashmir Police has offered a 2 million rupee ($2,363) reward each for the capture of the men, whom the police have identified as Ali Bhai, Hashim Musa, and Adil Hussain Thoker.

In an interview with Sky News on May 1, Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said LeT was “extinct” and that there could not be an offshoot if the original organization no longer existed.

He went on to suggest that the April 22 attack may have been a false flag operation.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.