The stance of the Donald Trump administration on the Pahalgam terrorist attack is facing growing scrutiny in India's strategic and political circles, amid a perceived US-led push to "de-escalate tensions" between the neighbours.
US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce told a briefing on Thursday that both India and Pakistan should work towards a "responsible resolution that maintains long-term peace and stability in South Asia", while quoting Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Bruce said that the US was in touch with both the countries at "multiple levels" and was closely monitoring the situation.
A day before, Rubio dialled External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar and Pakistan Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, asking both the countries to de-escalate tensions, according to official readouts.
Citing the call between US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week, Bruce stated that Trump stood in solidarity with India against all forms of terrorism. Notably, the Modi-Trump Joint Statement after Indian leader's visit to Washington in February called on Pakistan to bring to book terrorists behind 26/11 Mumbai, and Pathankot attacks and also ensure that its territory isn't used for carrying out terrorist activities.
In a post on X after the call with Rubio, Jaishankar reiterated that the "perpetrators, backers and planners" of the Pahalgam terrorist attack must be brought to justice. PM Modi has declared that India would "punish every terrorist and their backers” and “pursue them to the ends of the earth”.
Meanwhile, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth also dialled Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday evening. Hegseth told Singh that the US supported India's "right to defend itself", pledging Washington's support to India's "fight against terrorism".
The Hegseth-Singh call marked the first instance when a senior Indian functionary has named Pakistan directly in the wake of the Pahalgam terror incident.
Dr Anant Bhagwat, President of Global Strategic Policy Foundation Pune (GSPFP), told Sputnik India that de-escalation on India's part would only happen once the terrorists, planners and their backers were brought to book by New Delhi.
"It is understood that the US appeals to India and Pakistan to de-escalate and exercise restraint is in the larger interest of the international community. At the same time, India’s firm resolve to punish the terrorists, planners, perpetrators and their backers despite the nuclear blackmail is also in the greater interest of the global community," Bhagwat stated.
He highlighted that India's fight against cross-border terrorism was not an easy one.
Bhagwat noted that the Pahalgam terrorist attack came "just days after an incendiary speech by Pakistan Army Chief General Asim Munir, who justified the communal two-nation theory that led to Partition of the Subcontinent on religious lines".
Bhagwat said that subsequent statements coming from Pakistan, including not ruling out the use of nukes (Defence Minister Khwaja Asif's interview to Reuters and Pakistan Minister Hanif Abbasi's threats) and comparing the terrorists to "freedom fighters" (Pakistan Deputy PM Ishaq Dar's statement), didn't help the cause of de-escalation.
"India has taken upon itself now to not only neutralise the terrorist infrastructure but also call out Pakistan’s nuclear bluff. This serves the broader goals of the international community and the global fight against terrorism," Bhagwat said.
Echoing India's frustration with Pakistan over its failure to hold to account terrorist groups, Bhagwat noted that successive "Pakistani governments have only paid lip service to address India's concerns of cross-border terrorism".
BJP leader Savio Rodrigues told Sputnik India that America's stance on the Pahalgam terrorist attack was a bit hypocritical.
"There is clearly a sense of duality in what the US is preaching to India and how it responds when faced with terrorism on its own soil or even abroad. Did the US ever deescalate in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attack? Not only did it launched a 20-year War on Terror, all but levelling an entire country to the ground, but also indulged in racial profiling of Muslims and even some coloured communities at home," Rodrigues commented.
He noted that the US Navy SEALs had also launched Operation Neptune Spear to take out former Al-Qaeda* chief Osama Bin Laden, hiding in a compound in the Pakistan garrison town of Abbottabad.
"There can't be double-standards on terrorism," Rodrigues said.
"The US should understand that India's fight isn't against the people of Pakistan, but against the military-ISI-terror nexus which has resulted in the loss of countless Indian lives through decades of cross-border terrorism," Rodrigues commented.
Noting the risks of an all-out war with possibility of a nuclear confrontation, Rodrigues proclaimed that India cannot allow its citizens to "continue to be slaughtered by terrorists".
"It is important for the US and other countries to pressure Pakistan to destroy the terrorist infrastructure in order to enable a truly collective response to terrorism," the BJP functionary stated.
Meanwhile, Ambassador (retired) Anil Trigunayat said that India alone has the prerogative to decide on how to respond to the Pahalgam attack.
"Let the whole world say what they want but they have not suffered terror attacks. The US knows its own history of demolishing Afghanistan after 9/11. We have to take action as deemed as appropriate," Trigunayat told Sputnik India.
*under UN sanctions for terrorism
*banned terrorist group