Washington: The United States has said it keeps a constant watch on the fragile peace between India and Pakistan, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio stressing that ceasefires remain one of the hardest diplomatic achievements to sustain. His comments come as President Donald Trump continues to credit himself for halting what he claims was a near-nuclear standoff between the two South Asian neighbors earlier this year.
Speaking to NBC News, Rubio said that while ceasefire agreements are vital, they are also “complicated, fragile, and prone to collapse.” He noted that the US monitors the India-Pakistan situation “every single day” to ensure that the truce remains intact. Drawing parallels with the ongoing war in Ukraine, Rubio remarked that real peace requires more than temporary pauses in hostilities: “What we are aiming for is not simply a ceasefire, but a peace deal that prevents conflict both now and in the future.”
India, however, has firmly rejected suggestions of American mediation. New Delhi has consistently maintained that the May ceasefire was the result of Islamabad’s request, following heavy battlefield losses during Operation Sindoor. Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Parliament that no foreign power played a role in the decision, while External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar dismissed Trump’s repeated assertions as inaccurate, saying India’s military strategy was not influenced by trade offers or outside pressure.
Trump, meanwhile, has made the claim central to his foreign policy narrative. Since May 10, when he announced via social media that he had helped secure a “full and immediate ceasefire,” the US President has repeated the statement dozens of times, most recently during his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin. “They were already shooting down planes, and it could have gone nuclear,” Trump told reporters. “I was able to stop it because life comes first, and war is terrible.”
Islamabad has been quick to endorse the American version of events. Pakistani officials have credited Washington for the ceasefire, with Army Chief Asim Munir making two visits to the US since May and securing an oil deal with Washington. Analysts see this as Islamabad’s attempt to curry favor and maintain strategic relevance in Washington’s orbit.
For India, however, the message is clear: peace with Pakistan is a bilateral matter, not a trophy for global leaders. As tensions simmer just below the surface, the US insistence on “daily monitoring” reflects both the fragility of the current truce and the high stakes of any renewed confrontation between two nuclear-armed rivals.