President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he hoped tensions between India and Pakistan would de-escalate quickly, following Indian attacks on targets inside Pakistan.

“They’ve been fighting for many, many decades,” Mr Trump said at a White House event. I just hope it ends very quickly.”

“People knew something was going to happen based on a little bit of the past,” he added.

India launched missile strikes across the border into Pakistan, claiming to be targeting the hideouts of militant groups behind a late April attack in the disputed region of Kashmir in which at least 26 civilians were killed.

The Pakistani military said eight people were killed and 33 others injured in the strikes.

Meanwhile, at least three civilians were killed by Pakistani shelling in the Indian-controlled part of the disputed Kashmir region, according to Indian reports.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that he was monitoring the situation between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

“I echo (Mr Trump’s) comments earlier today that this hopefully ends quickly and will continue to engage both Indian and Pakistani leadership towards a peaceful resolution,” Mr Rubio said on social media platform X.

The South Asian nations have fought three wars since their independence in 1947 and pulled back from the brink of a fourth one over contested Kashmir, which is split between the two countries and China. 

(dpa/NAN)