President of the United States of America, Donald Trump, appeared to confirm that India is exploring the means to give a befitting reply to Pakistan in the wake of the Pulwama Terror Attack. Talking to reporters at the Oval Office, Trump said that India was looking at a “very strong” response.
“India is looking at something very strong. And I mean, India just lost almost 50 people with an attack. So, I could understand that also,” he said in response to a question about India’s right to self-defense.
US president @realDonaldTrump fears Indian retaliation after #PulwamaTerrorAttack. @gauravcsawant join us for more on this. #ITVideohttps://t.co/Nounxo6IKQ pic.twitter.com/klB6EDRcEd
— India Today (@IndiaToday) February 23, 2019
“We are talking and a lot of people are talking. But, it is a very, very delicate balance going on right now. There’s a lot of problems between India and Pakistan because of what just happened,” he said before adding, “We’re very much involved in that if that’s what you’re referring to.”
President Trump also remarked that he would like to see the tensions stop. “It’s a terrible thing going on right now between Pakistan and India. It is a very, very bad situation and it’s a very dangerous situation between the two countries. We would like to see it stopped. A lot of people were just killed and we want to see it stopped,” he said.
The United States has stopped giving over $1 billion in aid to Pakistan, the President remarked. He said, “I stopped paying Pakistan the USD 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 USD 1.3 billion a year. I ended that payment because they were not helping us in the way they should have.”
Earlier, NSA Ajit Doval was assured by his American counterpart that the USA supports India’s right to self-defense. Meanwhile, Pakistan has started preparing for war. And earlier today, Prime Minister Modi assured the country that “scores will be settled” this time.
