‘US stands with India’: Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth assures Rajnath Singh amid rising India-Pakistan strain

Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has spoken to US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday. The two lawmakers discussed the Pahalgam terror attack during the hone conversation. During the phone talks with Rajnath Singh, US Defence Secretary Hegseth expressed his deepest sympathies for the tragic loss of lives in Pahalgam terror attack.

Secretary Hegseth said that the US stands in solidarity with India and supports India’s right to defend itself. He reiterated the strong support of the US government in India's fight against terrorism, according to Defense Ministry statement.

Rajnath Singh also told Pete Hegseth that “Pakistan has a history of supporting, training and funding terrorist organisations”.

Rajnath Singh further said that it is important for the global community to explicitly and unequivocally condemn and call out such heinous acts of terrorism, the official statement added.

The call comes after US urged India and Pakistan to work together to de-escalate tensions and avoid an expected clash, after militants last week killed dozens of people in the Indian-controlled portion of the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with top officials from India and Pakistan countries on Wednesday, asking them to “maintain peace and security in South Asia.”

Marco Rubio spoke with External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.

Jaishankar said in an X post Thursday that he discussed the attack in Kashmir with Rubio on April 30. “Its perpetrators, backers and planners must be brought to justice,” he said.

Marco Rubio also told Pakistan’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, of the need to condemn the attack and re-establish direct communications, according to a statement from the US State Department.

In a televised address shortly after midnight on Wednesday, Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said his country had “credible intelligence” that India would carry out military action in the next 24 to 36 hours. Hours later at a news conference, Pakistan’s military spokesman, Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, said the country’s response to any Indian aggression will be “befitting and decisive.”

Further, Directors General of Military Operations of India and Pakistan talked over the hotline on Tuesday to discuss the unprovoked ceasefire violations by Pakistan, defence sources said on Wednesday. They said India warned Pakistan against the unprovoked ceasefire violations by the Pakistan Army along the Line of Control (LOC) and the International Border.