Team | Indonesian CNN
Thursday, January 26, 2023 11:35 a.m. WIB
In fact, a nuclear war between two neighboring countries, India and Pakistan, nearly broke out in 2019, before the United States intervened. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)
Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —
Nuclear war between two neighboring countries, India And Pakistanit turned out that it nearly broke in 2019, before the United States intervened.
This tension was revealed in a book titled “Never Give an Inch” by former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, which was released on Tuesday (1/24).
In the book, Pompeo describes his various accomplishments as Secretary of State, including his intervention in the conflict between India and Pakistan to avert a nuclear war.
“I don’t think the world really knows how India and Pakistan nearly got embroiled in a nuclear conflict in February 2019,” Pompeo wrote in the quoted book. AFP.
In February 2019, India launched an airstrike on Pakistani territory. They accuse Pakistani militant groups of being responsible for the bombs that killed 41 Indian paramilitaries in Kashmir.
Pakistan then shot down the Indian plane it was using to attack its country. They also arrested the pilot of the plane.
When the dispute erupted, Pompeo was in Hanoi accompanying President Donald Trump to meet with North Korea’s Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un.
He was suddenly called by a high Indian official. Pompeo woke up from his sleep.
“He thinks Pakistan is starting to prepare its nuclear weapons for attack. He told me that India is also considering an escalation,” Pompeo wrote.
Pompo continued his story: “I asked him to do nothing and give us time to deal with it.”
According to Pompeo, American diplomats managed to convince India and Pakistan that neither of them was planning a nuclear attack.
“No other country could have done what we did last night to prevent a bad result,” Pompeo said.
The former US secretary of state suspected Pakistan of having “probably authorized” the attack in Kashmir which killed the Indian paramilitaries. Around this time, Pompeo also publicly defended India’s right to act.
In the book, Pompeo is quick to praise India. He did not rule out his desire to ally with India “to counter Chinese aggression”.
The nuclear war between India and Pakistan has long haunted the world. This fear began to haunt since 1998, after India and Pakistan tested their nuclear bombs.
Then-US President Bill Clinton later called the Indo-Pakistan border area, Kashmir, “the most dangerous place in the world”.
(a/bin)
