US V-P Vance hopes Pakistan will cooperate with India on probe in Pahalgam terror attack

Washington, May 2 (IANS) US Vice-President J.D. Vance has said that the US hopes that Pakistan would cooperate with India to hunt down the Pakistan-based terrorists responsible for the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam last month.

"Our hope here is that India responds to this terrorist attack in a way that doesn't lead to a broader regional conflict," Vance said on Thursday in an interview on Fox News' "Special Report with Bret Baier" show.

"And we hope, frankly, that Pakistan, to the extent that they're responsible, cooperates with India to make sure that the terrorists sometimes operating in their territory are hunted down and dealt with," the Us Vice-President added.

During the interview with Fox News, Vance made his first public remark on the attack, which left 26 people dead.

Vance and his family were in India on a four-day visit when the carnage -- the worst since the Pulwama attack on CRPF personnel in 2019 -- took place.

The Vice-President's remarks assume significance amid rising tensions between India and Pakistan in the aftermath of the Pahalgam attack.

Vance, who was in India last month, had then condemned the attack and expressed solidarity with the victims and their families in a post on X.

The Pahalgam attack, which claimed the lives of 25 tourists and one local, was one of the deadliest attacks on civilians in the Kashmir Valley in recent times. The terrorists had planned the attack on a scenic meadow which required hiking or using a pony service to get to the spot.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday, amid escalating tensions between the two countries following the Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 lives.

Rubio asked Pakistani officials to cooperate in the investigation and work to de-escalate tensions between them.

In his first public remarks on the attack, Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said that India will give a fitting and precise response to every act of terrorism.

Sending a strong warning to terrorists, Amit Shah said, "If anyone thinks that a cowardly attack is their victory, they must remember this is Narendra Modi's India — and revenge will be taken, one by one."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has vowed to "pursue" the perpetrators and their backers "to the ends of the earth".

India downgraded its ties with Pakistan following the Pahalgam attack and took several diplomatic measures, including the pausing of the Indus Waters Treaty, expelling all Pakistani military attaches, closing its airspace to Pakistani airlines and the shutting down of the Attari-Wagah border. In response, Pakistan undertook tit-for-tat measures and suspended the Simla Agreement.

India on Thursday relaxed its deadline allowing Pakistani nationals to return to Pakistan via the Attari-Wagah border. But, Pakistan has not yet reciprocated with the same measure by allowing Indian nationals into the country.

--IANS

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