US refrains from commenting on surgical strikes across LoC

Washington: The US has refrained from commenting on the surgical strikes carried out by the Indian Army on terror launch pads across the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir last week while calling for calm and restraint. "We're not going to speak to specific reports of incidents along the border," Elizabeth Trudeau, Director of the US State Department Press Office, said at the daily press briefing here on Monday. "We urge calm and restraint on both sides," she said, adding that the Indian and Pakistani armies were in touch with each other . "We believe that that continued communication is vital to reduce these tensions." The Indian Army late on September 26 night and early September 27 morning carried out a series of surgical strikes on terror launch pads across the LoC in which "significant casualties have been caused to the terrorists and those who are trying to support them". The attacks came in retaliation to the September 18 cross-border terror attack on an army garrison at Uri in Jammu and Kashmir in which 19 Indian soldiers lost their lives. In her briefing, Trudeau said that "conflicts or issues or rising tension are not contained to any specific region". "We are in favour of any reduction of tensions that both sides agree to in this particular instance," she stated. "We have strong ties with both Pakistan and India, and we'll engage on that basis." Reiterating that the US position on Kashmir has not changed, Trudeau said, "I would remind you that we are having conversations with both (India and Pakistan) on the importance of reducing the tensions in the region."