Behind the truce between India and Pakistan after four days of intense military hostilities, the first important sign was a call between US Secretary of State and National Security Advisor Marco Rubio and Pakistan’s Army Chief Gen Asim Munir.
Rubio, who spoke to Munir, said that he “offered US assistance in starting constructive talks in order to avoid future conflicts.” This was the first direct contact between the US administration and the Pakistan Army Chief, the man at the centre of Pakistan’s hostile actions against India. In fact, it was Munir’s inflammatory rhetoric on Hindu-Muslim relations and Kashmir that prefaced the Pahalgam attack, the trigger of the fiercest standoff since the Kargil war.
Rubio had already spoken to Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the fact that he escalated it to the Pakistan Army Chief was telling.
