Pakistan seeks Trump’s intervention to defuse escalating tensions with India

Amid mounting tensions in South Asia following a deadly incident in Indian-administered Kashmir, Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States has called on President Donald Trump to play a constructive role in preventing further escalation between the two nuclear-armed neighbors, reported Newsweek.

The clamor follows a violent attack in Kashmir’s Pahalgam area on April 22, where 24 tourists – mostly Indians -- were killed by unidentified gunmen. While investigations remain inconclusive, India swiftly blamed Pakistan for the assault, a charge Islamabad has firmly denied, citing a lack of evidence and calling for an impartial inquiry.

In response to the incident, New Delhi announced a suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty—an agreement in place since 1960—and ordered Pakistani nationals to leave the country within 48 hours. Islamabad condemned these measures as provocative and unlawful, warning that any attempt to alter the water-sharing accord would be considered "an act of war" and be met with strong resistance.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s directive granting the military “operational freedom” in response to the Kashmir attack has further fueled concerns of a possible armed conflict. Pakistan, while emphasizing its commitment to peace, has made it clear that any hostile action would be met with a firm and lawful defense.

Against this backdrop, Ambassador Rizwan Saeed Sheikh, in an exclusive interview with Newsweek, urged Washington to use its global influence to promote stability in the region.

“If we have a president who is standing for peace in the world as a pronounced objective during this administration, to establish a legacy as a peacemaker, or as someone who finished wars, defied wars and played a role in de-confliction, resolving the disputes, I don't think there is any higher or flashier flash point, particularly in nuclear terms, as Kashmir.”

Sheikh said that merely pushing for short-term calm may no longer be enough.

“So, I think with this threat that we are facing, there is a latent opportunity to address the situation by not just focusing on an immediate de-escalatory measure, or a de-escalatory approach,” he explained. “But to try and get this out of the way in a fashion that there is something more durable and lasting in terms of a durable solution of the Kashmir dispute rather than allowing the situation to stay precarious and pop up again and again at the next drop of a hat on this side or that side.”

While the U.S. has thrown its weight behind India’s counterterrorism efforts and condemned the attack in Kashmir, President Trump has also struck a more measured tone when addressing the long-standing Kashmir conflict.

“Well, I’m very close to India and I’m very close to Pakistan, as you know. They’ve had that fight for 1,500 years in Kashmir. Kashmir’s been going on for 1,500 years, probably longer than that,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday. “And it was a bad one yesterday, that was a bad one… they’ll get it figured out one way or the other, I’m sure of that.”

The U.S. State Department also issued a statement expressing sympathy and firm support for India, while closely monitoring the evolving situation. “As President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have said, the United States stands with India and strongly condemns the terrorist attack in Pahalgam,” a department spokesperson told Newsweek. “We pray for the lives of those lost, and for the recovery of the injured, and call for the perpetrators of this heinous act to be brought to justice.”

Pakistan rejects blame

Ambassador Sheikh, however, categorically denied any Pakistani involvement in the incident, calling the allegations not only baseless but also counterproductive to Pakistan’s own national interests.

“Pakistan is focusing on a matter of a deliberate, considered, pronounced shift of our foreign policy, a pivot from geopolitics to geo-economics,” he said. “We are focused on the geo-economics side of our geography and our foreign policy. We are currently economically ascendant. The only thing that we need in terms of the broader region in such a pursuit and such a setting, is basically peaceful neighborhood. We need a peaceful neighborhood.”

Highlighting Pakistan’s efforts to stabilize its economy and combat internal security threats, Sheikh added, “So, we would not even be the last ones to think of this kind of adventurism, because it’s currently not any way near, not even on the radar, it is not just even on the horizon for us in terms of our national thought process right now. So, that is where we are, and this is so outlandish, so far-fetched, to blame Pakistan for this.”

The envoy made it clear that Islamabad was still awaiting any credible evidence from New Delhi linking it to the Pahalgam incident. Ambassador Sheikh emphasized the importance of transparency, while also floating the possibility of the incident being orchestrated to malign Pakistan — a theory he admitted lacked conclusive proof but couldn’t be ruled out entirely.

“When I am saying that it can be a false flag operation, I have no evidence. So, I'm making that allowance, but we have no evidence that this is a false flag operation,” Sheikh said. “But there is enough circumstantial evidence, there is enough history, or there is enough immediate backdrop and setting that suggests at least, to be able to entertain that possibility and not discount it in any way.

"But of course, since we are seeking evidence of any such thought or any such allegation or accusation ourselves from the Indian side, we would be also responsible enough to look for such evidence. Nothing as of now, but it cannot simply be discounted.”

'Peace with dignity, not submission'

At the heart of the tensions, he said, lies the long-standing dispute over Kashmir — a flashpoint that has defined decades of strained relations between the two nuclear-armed neighbors. While India views Kashmir as an integral part of its territory, Pakistan maintains that the matter must be resolved through international mechanisms and in accordance with longstanding United Nations resolutions.

“Until and unless that final settlement is made and the resolutions dictates the prescribed solution is allowed to play out, we will all keep having these problems,” Sheikh said. “That's why we insist on now the United States and others playing a role in this situation and getting the de-confliction part activated.

The dispute should be resolved. If that dispute is resolved, I think in that region that houses one-fifth of humanity can live in peace. All the other issues between Pakistan and India are not major issues.”

Despite the heated rhetoric and heightened tensions, the ambassador reiterated that Pakistan does not seek confrontation. With a smaller population and economy compared to its neighbor, Sheikh noted that peace aligns with Islamabad’s broader goals -- especially its economic revival. Still, he was resolute that Pakistan would not compromise on its principles if forced into a conflict.

“We do not want to fight, particularly with a bigger country,” he said. “We want peace. It suits our economic agenda; it suits our nationhood. It suits every objective that we have currently. But we want peace with dignity. We would not want to do it, but if it is imposed, then we would rather die with dignity than survive with indignity.”