US President Donald Trump says there will be some "reasonably decent news" on the ongoing conflict between India and Pakistan, a day after the two nuclear powers both downed enemy jets and Pakistan captured an Indian pilot. The US, China and other world powers have urged restraint from the two nations as tensions escalate following tit-for-tat airstrikes in the wake of a suicide car bombing that killed at least 40 Indian paramilitary police in Indian-controlled Kashmir on February 14. Indian and Pakistani troops traded fire briefly along the contested border in Kashmir on Thursday morning, but speaking at a press conference, Trump said the US had been mediating between the two sides. "They have been going at it and we have been involved in trying to have them stop," Trump said. "We have been in the middle trying to help them both out." On Thursday India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who faces a general election in a matter of months, told a rally of supporters that India would unite against its enemies. "The world is observing our collective will. It is necessary that we shouldn't do anything that allows our enemy to raise a finger at us," he said, in his first remarks since the downing of planes on Wednesday. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has called for talks between the two nations. Pakistan and India have fought three wars since independence from British colonial rule in 1947, two over Kashmir, and went to the brink of a fourth in 2002 after a Pakistani militant attack on India's parliament. Pakistan has shut its airspace, forcing commercial airlines to reroute. On Thursday morning troops from India and Pakistan briefly exchanged fire in Poonch, a district in Indian-occupied Kashmir, according to a statement from the Indian army. On Wednesday evening India's foreign ministry handed a dossier to Pakistan that it claimed detailed camps of the Pakistan-based militant group that carried out the February 14 attack. With a general election due in India by May, an upsurge in nationalism from any conflict with Pakistan could become a key factor, potentially favouring Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party. The White House urged "both sides to take immediate steps to de-escalate the situation." US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement he had spoken separately with the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan and urged them to "prioritise direct communication and avoid further military activity". China, the European Union and other countries also called for restraint. Japan's foreign minister said on Thursday the country was concerned about the "deteriorating situation". The United States, Britain and France proposed the United Nations Security Council blacklist Masood Azhar, the head of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad, the group that claimed responsibility for the attack. China is likely to be oppose the move. Australian Associated Press
The Indian and Pakistan tit-for-tat air strikes have stirred up nationalist feelings on both sides.
US President Donald Trump says there will be some "reasonably decent news" on the ongoing conflict between India and Pakistan, a day after the two nuclear powers both downed enemy jets and Pakistan captured an Indian pilot.
The US, China and other world powers have urged restraint from the two nations as tensions escalate following tit-for-tat airstrikes in the wake of a suicide car bombing that killed at least 40 Indian paramilitary police in Indian-controlled Kashmir on February 14.
Indian and Pakistani troops traded fire briefly along the contested border in Kashmir on Thursday morning, but speaking at a press conference, Trump said the US had been mediating between the two sides.
"They have been going at it and we have been involved in trying to have them stop," Trump said.
"We have been in the middle trying to help them both out."
On Thursday India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who faces a general election in a matter of months, told a rally of supporters that India would unite against its enemies.
"The world is observing our collective will. It is necessary that we shouldn't do anything that allows our enemy to raise a finger at us," he said, in his first remarks since the downing of planes on Wednesday.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has called for talks between the two nations.
Pakistan and India have fought three wars since independence from British colonial rule in 1947, two over Kashmir, and went to the brink of a fourth in 2002 after a Pakistani militant attack on India's parliament.
Pakistan has shut its airspace, forcing commercial airlines to reroute.
On Thursday morning troops from India and Pakistan briefly exchanged fire in Poonch, a district in Indian-occupied Kashmir, according to a statement from the Indian army.
On Wednesday evening India's foreign ministry handed a dossier to Pakistan that it claimed detailed camps of the Pakistan-based militant group that carried out the February 14 attack.
With a general election due in India by May, an upsurge in nationalism from any conflict with Pakistan could become a key factor, potentially favouring Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.
The White House urged "both sides to take immediate steps to de-escalate the situation."
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement he had spoken separately with the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan and urged them to "prioritise direct communication and avoid further military activity".
China, the European Union and other countries also called for restraint. Japan's foreign minister said on Thursday the country was concerned about the "deteriorating situation".
The United States, Britain and France proposed the United Nations Security Council blacklist Masood Azhar, the head of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad, the group that claimed responsibility for the attack.
