‘Alarming intelligence’ got US VP to press Modi on ceasefire: CNN

AFTER alarming intelligence, US Vice President J D Vance called Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to encourage ceasefire talks with Pakistan. This was reported by CNN on Saturday, quoting Trump administration sources.

According to a CNN report: A core group of top US officials — including Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State and interim national security adviser Marco Rubio and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles — had been closely monitoring the escalating conflict between India and Pakistan when on Friday morning, the US received alarming intelligence, Trump administration officials told CNN.

While they declined to describe the nature of the information, citing its sensitivity, they said it was critical in persuading the three officials that the US should escalate its involvement.

Vance himself would call Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Behind the scenes: Vance briefed President Donald Trump on the plan, then spoke with Modi at noon eastern time on Friday, making clear to the Indian prime minister that the White House believed there was a high probability for dramatic escalation as the conflict went into the weekend, the administration officials said. Vance encouraged Modi to have his country communicate with Pakistan directly and to consider options available for de-escalation, the officials said.

At that point, the officials said, the US believed the two sides were not talking, and they needed to get them back to the bargaining table. Vance also outlined to Modi a potential off-ramp that the US understood the Pakistanis would be amenable to, the officials said, though they did not offer details.

Following the call, State Department officials, including Rubio, began working the phones with their counterparts in India and Pakistan through the night, the sources said.

The Trump administration was not involved in helping draft the agreement, the administration officials said, and viewed their role mostly as getting the two sides together to talk. But from the US perspective, Vance’s call to Modi was a critical moment.