Trump offers to mediate as Pakistan vows retaliation over Indian missile strikes

US President Donald Trump has called for India and Pakistan to immediately halt their fighting, and offered to help end the worst violence between the neighbouring South Asian countries in two decades.

"It's so terrible," Trump said at the White House on Wednesday. "I get along with both, I know both very well, and I want to see them work it out. I want to see them stop.

"They've gone tit-for-tat, so hopefully they can stop now."

Trump's comments came as India and Pakistan exchanged heavy artillery fire along their contested frontier, after New Delhi launched deadly missile strikes on its arch-rival.

Pakistan states that Indian strikes resulted in the deaths of 31 Pakistani civilians and injuries to 57 others, vowing to respond to the Indian actions.

Pakistan also said that its air force brought down five Indian fighter jets and one drone in an act of "self-defence” — including three Rafale aircraft, which are considered sophisticated multi-role jets made in France.

India has not confirmed the downing of its jets, but reports quoting local officials say a few aircraft went down on the side of India-administered Kashmir. 

'1,500 years' of Kashmir dispute

Pakistan has long been a key US military ally but Trump has been keen to build up relations with Indian Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whom he hosted at the White House in February.

"We get along with both countries very well, good relationships with both, and I want to see it stop," Trump said in the Oval Office.

"And if I can do anything to help, I will be there."

Trump initially played down the crisis as part of old tensions between India and Pakistan — even saying they had been at odds for 1,500 years, despite the two countries only forming after independence from Britain in 1947.

But his administration has scrambled into action in the last 24 hours since the Indian strikes.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke to his counterparts from India and Pakistan on Friday, encouraging them to reopen dialogue to "defuse" the situation, the White House said.

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Source: TRT