US spokesperson defends Trump's outreach to Pakistan, says ties with India 'good'

New York, Aug 13 (IANS) US State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce stated that US relations with India are "good" while defending Washington’s outreach to Pakistan, emphasising that having a president who communicates with everyone is beneficial.

“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.

Bruce did not respond to another part of the reporter’s question, whether Trump's seeming “to have developed a strong relationship” with Munir “will lead to more US assistance to Pakistan and an increase in arms sales”.

But she referred to the US-Pakistan dialogue on counter-terrorism held earlier on Tuesday in Islamabad.

The US and Pakistan “reaffirmed their shared commitment to combating terrorism in all its forms and manifestations” during the meeting, she said.

They “discussed ways to enhance cooperation to counter terrorist threats, and I think that is good for the region and for the world”, she said.

Trump hosted Munir, who wields power over Pakistan’s civilian government, at a White House lunch in June, asserting that he “wanted to thank him for not going into the war and ending it”.

Munir came again to the US last week to participate in an event in Tampa, Florida, to bid farewell to General Michael Kurilla, who ended his tour as the commander of the US Central Command (CENTCOM), and welcome his successor, Admiral Brad Cooper. CENTCOM covers Pakistan, in addition to Central and West Asia.

Trump has claimed that he mediated an end to the conflict in May which was escalated by Islamabad after India launched Operation Sindoor against Pakistan-based terror groups in retaliation for the terrorist attack by The Resistance Front, an off-shoot of Pakistan-protected Lashkar-e-Tayiba, in Pahalgam in April.

Munir has echoed that and nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize.

India has denied that there was any mediation by Trump, and a ceasefire was initiated by Pakistan’s Director General of Military Operations, Major General Kashif Abdullah, who called his Indian counterpart, Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai.

Bruce, who has been nominated to be the US deputy permanent representative to the UN, said that the US 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.

--IANS

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