His comments came after US President Donald Trump acknowledged the strikes earlier in the day, expressing hope that the situation would calm down quickly. “We just heard about it as we were walking through the doors of the Oval. Just heard about it. I guess people knew something was going to happen based on a little bit of the past. They’ve been fighting for a long time. They’ve been fighting for many, many decades. And centuries, actually, if you think about it. I hope it ends very quickly,” Trump said.
Meanwhile, the UAE’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, urged both India and Pakistan to “exercise restraint, de-escalate tensions, and avoid further escalation,” according to a statement released by the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
India’s Ministry of Defence clarified that the strikes were a direct response to the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, which killed 26 people, including one Nepali citizen. It added, “Our actions have been focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature. No Pakistani military facilities have been targeted.”