US State Department official Tammy Bruce has stated on Tuesday that Washington's ties with India continue to be "good," and she defended the US administration's contacts with Pakistan. She emphasized that it is beneficial to have a president who stays in touch with everybody.
“Our relationship with both nations is as it has been, which is good”, she said on Tuesday when a reporter asked her if US President Donald Trump reaching out to Pakistan’s military leader Asim Munir would be “at the expense of the president’s relationship with (Prime Minister) Modi”.
“That is the benefit of having a president who knows everyone, talks to everyone, and that is how we can bring differences together in this case”, she said in defence of Trump’s diplomacy towards Pakistan.
“So it’s clear that the diplomats here are committed to both nations”, she added.
US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce refused to comment on the portion of a question by a reporter on whether President Donald Trump's seeming "strong relationship" with Pakistan Army chief General Asim Munir might lead to more US aid or weapons sales to Pakistan.
She instead referred to the US-Pakistan counter-terrorism talks conducted earlier on Tuesday in Islamabad, in which the two nations "reaffirmed their mutual commitment to counter terrorism in all its forms and manifestations." Bruce added that the two nations also "exchanged views on how to deepen cooperation to counter terrorist threats," saying that these efforts are both beneficial to the region and the global world.
Trump welcomed Munir to a White House lunch in June, expressing appreciation for "not entering the war and terminating it." Munir came back to the US last week to witness an event in Tampa, Florida, as General Michael Kurilla bid farewell as commander of the US Central Command (CENTCOM) and Admiral Brad Cooper took over. CENTCOM is responsible for operations in Pakistan as well as Central and West Asia.
The US president has taken credit for brokering a cessation of the May hostilities, which mounted after India initiated Operation Sindoor against terror organizations in Pakistan in response to the April Pahalgam attack by The Resistance Front, a splinter group of the Pakistan-supported Lashkar-e-Taiba. Munir has repeated Trump's version and even shortlisted him for the Nobel Peace Prize.
India has, however, denied reports of US intervention, claiming that the ceasefire was proposed by Pakistan's Director General of Military Operations, Major General Kashif Abdullah, who spoke to his Indian counterpart, Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai.
Bruce, who has been recently named the US deputy permanent representative to the UN, said that Washington had "ended a conflict, one that could have developed into something quite horrible."
She said that “here was immediate concern and immediate movement with the Vice President, the President, and the Secretary of State, in addressing the nature of what was happening”.
Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio worked to “stop the attacks and to then bring the parties together so we can have something that was enduring…and it’s a very proud moment and a very good example of what Secretary Rubio was committed to”, she added.
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