China, US watch closely from the sidelines as India-Pakistan crisis unfolds
As cross-border shelling unfolded on Wednesday following India's missile strikes inside Pakistani territory, the rising tensions between
the nuclear-armed neighbours have drawn international attention – particularly from China and the US.
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US President
Donald Trump told reporters at the White House on Wednesday that 'if I can do anything to help, I will be there' and claimed to 'get along very well' with both sides.
Underscoring the wider geopolitical stakes of the tensions, China has
tacitly backed its long-time regional ally Pakistan, which has acknowledged deploying Chinese-made fighter jets against India's increasingly Western-supplied arsenal.
While the global powers are unlikely to become directly involved in the conflict, experts pointed to deepening security ties between the US and India on one side and China and Pakistan on the other, as a sign that they are expected to offer various forms of support to their respective partners.
According to senior Indian officials, the US and India maintained 'robust' and 'strong' lines of communication before and after the strikes with Washington expressing 'overwhelming' support for India's fight against terrorism.
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The officials said that India briefed US National Security Adviser and Secretary of State Marco Rubio 'at length' about the context and intelligence information behind the strikes just hours after they occurred, stressing that any external mediation or investigation would be futile.
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