Ex-Pentagon official Michael Rubin has called for the arrest of Pakistan army chief Asim Munir, while saying that Islamabad should be designated “a state sponsor of terror”. Rubin was referring to Munir being hosted at the White House back in June, and said he should be “arrested rather than honoured”.
In an interview with the news agency ANI, Rubin said that there was “no logic” in the US siding with Pakistan.
“There is no strategic logic for the United States embracing Pakistan. It should be designated a state sponsor of terrorism, period. If Asim Munir comes to the United States, he should be arrested rather than honoured,” Rubin said in the interview.
The George Bush era defence department official said that the US needs to apologise to India for “mistreating” the country for the past year.
“What we need is quiet diplomacy behind the scenes, and perhaps, at some point, a more vocal apology from the United States for the way we have treated India over the past year…President Donald Trump doesn’t like to apologise, but the interests of the United States, world democracies are much more important than one man’s ego, no matter how inflated it is,” he added.
US tensions with India
The US-India relationship has experienced considerable trade tensions in recent times. The President Donald Trump-led administration imposed a hefty 50 per cent tariff on imports from India, and his officials have been critical of New Delhi in the recent past.
Another front of tension between the two countries is Trump wanting credit for “ending the India-Pakistan conflict” that began with the Pahalgam terror attack, which resulted in the deaths of 26 people on April 22. It escalated when India struck terror infrastructure inside Pakistan, killing over 100 terrorists under Operation Sindoor on May 7.
The action resulted in a three-day conflict between the two neighbours, which ended with Pakistan asking for a ceasefire on May 10.
Trump has repeatedly claimed that it was he who helped end the conflict, even seeking a Nobel Prize for it, which Pakistan endorsed him for. However, India has repeatedly denied this assertion, clarifying that the truce was reached bilaterally.
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