'That was a bad one,' says US President Donald Trump on Pahalgam terror attack

United States President Donald Trump on Friday said there have always been tensions between India and Pakistan and the two countries will figure it out between themselves one way or the other. "I am very close to India and I’m very close to Pakistan, as you know. And they’ve had that fight for a thousand years in Kashmir. Kashmir has been going on for a thousand years, probably longer than that. And it was a bad one yesterday, though, that was a bad one. Over 30 people," Trump said during a press gaggle with reporters aboard the Air Force One on the way to Rome, Italy.

The US President was asked about tensions between India and Pakistan in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 people were killed and if he would be talking to the leaders of the two nations.

There have been “tensions on that border for 1,500 years. So you know, the same as it’s been, but they’ll get it figured out one way or the other. I’m sure…I know both leaders. There is great tension between Pakistan and India. But there always has been," he said.

Terrorists attacked civilians in Jammu and Kashmir‘s Pahalgam on Tuesday, killing 26 people, mostly tourists from across India -- the deadliest attack in the Valley since the Pulwama terror attack in 2019. The Resistance Front (TRF), an outfit associated with the banned Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) has claimed responsibility for the attack.

The attack has triggered a swift and fierce diplomatic standoff between India and Pakistan as Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a scathing attack on Islamabad. India has paused the crucial Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 and suspended visa services to all Pakistani nationals. Pakistan has retaliated by suspending the 1972 Simla Agreement and closing its airspace for Indian airlines.

(With inputs from PTI).