Trump's tepid response to Kashmir escalation is worrying

It is always intense to see how close the mutual hatred lies under the surface in India and Pakistan. 'Jai Hind!' , 'Long live India!' was heard on social media in India after the air strikes that killed 31 people in Pakistan on Wednesday. "They will pay for this," was the reaction of the Pakistani prime minister. India: "If Pakistan reacts, India will react."

Escalation is always looming when the two countries quarrel over Kashmir, the beautiful but troubled former princely state that has been the main bone of contention since independence from the British in 1947. Time and again, the world watches with bated breath to see if the two nuclear powers can control themselves. They have already fought three wars over Kashmir, will this be the fourth?

And there is always Washington, which immediately publicly urges restraint from both parties and works hard behind the scenes at a diplomatic level to calm the situation.

This time, things are different. “It’s unfortunate,” President Trump said when asked. “I hope it ends very soon.” A day later, he added: “If there’s anything I can do to help, I will.” These are noncommittal, easy remarks.

And this is the most serious situation in Kashmir in at least twenty years. The direct cause is an attack in April, in which Muslim militants shot dead 26 tourists in the Indian part of Kashmir. India is looking for the perpetrators in terrorist organizations that operate from Pakistan, including Lashkar-e-Taiba, which has already caused many massacres in India. Pakistan denies involvement.

In retaliation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordered nine strikes on targets in Pakistani-administered Kashmir, as well as in the key province of Punjab. Pakistan, in turn, claims to have shot down several fighter jets and drones. Later, drones were added that Pakistan claims flew over Lahore and Karachi, two cities with millions of inhabitants that have nothing to do with Kashmir. Ground fighting between soldiers along the ceasefire line in Kashmir has now cost at least twelve lives.

Every incoming American president knows that he will have to deal with Kashmir sooner or later. For Trump, this is the first international crisis to break out since the start of his second term, an opportunity to show how he can handle something like this. But his attitude has been so hands-off that India seems to have felt the space to hit back harder than usual after the attack.

This is worrying, not only in relation to the powder keg of Kashmir, but also in view of all the other simmering conflicts in the world. The way in which the American president allows Russia and Israel to have their way in Ukraine and Gaza was already telling in this respect. Now there are two nuclear powers facing each other.

Other world leaders are still calling for calm. British Prime Minister Starmer, the new German Chancellor Merz, UN leader Guterres, France, China and the European Union have already done so. But they simply do not have the influence that the United States alone still has. The carelessness that Trump shows with regard to Kashmir shows once again that the world has become a less safe place under his leadership.