US offers to help India and Pakistan start talks, G7 also urges dialogue

By Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. government said it offered assistance to make India and Pakistan start "constructive talks" while the Group of Seven (G7) major countries also urged the Asian neighbors to engage in direct dialogue amid heightened hostilities.

World powers have raised the alarm over the latest escalation in the decades-old India-Pakistan rivalry. India hit Pakistan with air strikes and missiles on Wednesday and since then the nuclear-armed countries have been clashing daily while launching strikes against each other's military installations on Saturday. Dozens have been killed.

The U.S., especially Secretary of State Marco Rubio, has held regular talks with both India and Pakistan since late April and urged them to de-escalate.

The U.S. State Department late on Friday and early Saturday released three statements on Rubio's calls with Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir, and the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan.

It said Rubio urged them to "re-establish direct communication to avoid miscalculation" while offering U.S. assistance "in starting constructive talks" to avoid future conflicts.

Michael Kugelman, a Washington-based South Asia analyst and writer for the Foreign Policy magazine, said Rubio's decision to call the army chief directly was "the most consequential move the U.S. has made" since the start of the crisis:

"If you want to talk to the Pakistanis about de-escalation, you need to talk to General Munir."

President Donald Trump said earlier this week the rising tensions were a shame. U.S. Vice President JD Vance said a war would be "none of our business."

In recent years, India has been seen as a partner by Western powers to counter China's rising influence. Pakistan is a U.S. ally although its importance has diminished since Washington's 2021 withdrawal from neighboring Afghanistan.

G7 URGES DIRECT DIALOGUE

In a G7 statement, the foreign ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the U.S., Britain and the European Union said they "strongly condemn" an April 22 Islamist militant attack in which 26 people were killed in India-administered Kashmir. India blamed Pakistan, which denied the accusations and called for a neutral probe.

"We call for immediate de-escalation and encourage both countries to engage in direct dialogue towards a peaceful outcome," the G7 top diplomats said.

Muslim-majority Kashmir is claimed in full but ruled only in part by both Hindu-majority India and Islamic Pakistan and has seen wars, insurgency and diplomatic stand-offs over the decades.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Costas Pitas and Edmund Klamann)