'Want Them To Stop': Donald Trump Repeats Call For Restraint As India-Pakistan Tensions Escalate

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that if he could do anything to "help", he would be there, adding that he wants India and Pakistan to "stop" the conflict.

"Oh, it's so terrible. My position is I get along with both. I know both very well and I want to see them work it out," Trump said in response to a question on the "war" between India and Pakistan. "I want to see them stop and hopefully, they can stop now. They have gone tit for tat, so hopefully they can stop now. I know both, we get along with both countries very well."

"Good relationships with both and I want to see it stop. And If I can do anything to help, I will be there," he added.

Trump made the remarks Wednesday in the Oval Office after the swearing-in ceremony of David Perdue as US Ambassador to China.

These were Trump's second remarks on the escalating tensions between the two nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours, after India launched Operation Sindoor targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

Just hours after the Indian strikes, Trump had said that India and Pakistan have been fighting for a long time and people knew "something was going to happen".

"It's a shame, we just heard about it just as we were walking in the doors of the Oval (Office). 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 really think about it," Trump said when asked about the attacks between India and Pakistan.

When asked if he has any message for the countries, he said: "No, I just hope it ends very quickly."

India launched Operation Sindoor early Wednesday hitting nine terror targets in PoK and Pakistan Punjab in retaliation for the terror attack in Pahalgam on April 22 that killed 26 people.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Army spokesperson Lt Gen. Ahmad Sharif Chaudhry said 31 people were killed and 57 others injured in the missile strikes launched shortly after midnight on cities in the Punjab province and PoK, and firing on the Line of Control.

(With PTI inputs)