India’s Foreign Minister Informs Senator Rubio That Justice Is Needed for the Kashmir Attackers

The foreign minister of India has called for responsibility for the attack in Kashmir while speaking with US Senator Marco Rubio.

In an effort to defuse the escalating tensions between nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan, India’s foreign minister reminded US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that those responsible for the fatal incident in Kashmir last week must be held accountable.

Following the attack that claimed 26 lives, Rubio called Indian and Pakistani officials separately on Wednesday, encouraging them to collaborate and defuse the situation. The State Department said that Rubio urged Pakistan to cooperate with the investigation into the incident and reiterated US support for India’s war against extremism.

The “perpetrators, backers, and planners” of the April 22 massacre “must be brought to justice,” Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said on X after speaking with Rubio.

According to a statement from his office, Pakistan’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, urged the United States to persuade India to “dial down the rhetoric and act responsibly.”

Islamist gunmen attacked visitors in the Pahalgam district of Kashmir, separating men, allegedly requesting their identities, and firing at Hindus from a distance. Authorities verified that 26 persons were murdered, the majority of whom were tourists.

Two of the three attackers are Pakistani nationals, and India has identified them as terrorists engaged in a protracted conflict in Muslim-majority Kashmir. Calling for an independent probe, Islamabad has denied any participation.

Although each country only administers a portion of Kashmir, the region is still hotly contested and is fully claimed by both Muslim-majority Pakistan and Hindu-majority India. The Himalayan territory has been the subject of two battles between the neighbors. India accuses Pakistan of supporting a significantly reduced militant insurgency in its part of Kashmir that has lasted for decades. Pakistan insists that the sole assistance it offers to the Kashmiri struggle for self-determination is moral and diplomatic.

India has suspended a crucial river water-sharing deal in retaliation to the attack, and both countries have closed their airspace to each other’s flights. Although no confirmed injuries have been reported, Indian forces have also reported nightly small arms fire exchanges across the border during the previous week.

An inquiry into Pakistan was not answered.