India Looking At Something Very Strong After Pulwama Attack: Donald Trump

Washington: India is looking at something very strong, US President Donald Trump has said, indicating at a tough retaliatory response following the Pulwama terror attack that claimed the lives of 42 jawans, which included two from Odisha.

Describing the situation between India and Pakistan as “very dangerous”, Trump said his administration was talking to authorities in both countries.

“Right now between Pakistan and India, there is a very, very bad situation. A very dangerous situation. We would like to see it (hostilities) stop. A lot of people were just killed. We want to see it just stop. We are very much involved in that (process),” Donald Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, according to news agency PTI.

“India is looking at something very strong. India just lost almost 50 people in the attack. I can understand that too,” Trump said. “We’re talking. A lot of people are. It’s going to be a very, very delicate balance. There is a lot of problems between India and Pakistan because of what just happened,” he said.

The terror attack, the worst on security forces in the Kashmir valley this decade, has led to an escalation of tensions between India and Pakistan. Pakistan army on Friday warned India against any “misadventure”, saying it was capable of responding.

Donald Trump also said the US has improved ties with Pakistan and works are on for meetings with Pakistan leaders and officials. “I stopped paying Pakistan the $ 1.3 billion that we used to pay them. In the meantime, we may set up some meetings with Pakistan. Pakistan was taking very strong advantage of the United States under other presidents. We were paying Pakistan $1.3 billion a year. I ended that payment, because they were not helping us in the way they should have,” Mr Trump said.

The United Nations Security Council too condemned “in the strongest terms the heinous and cowardly suicide bombing in Jammu and Kashmir,” and named Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed, which had claimed responsibility for the attack.