EU Calls for Calm After Deadly Pahalgam Terror Attack

The European Union (EU) has appealed to India and Pakistan to exercise restraint and engage in dialogue to reduce tensions following the Pahalgam terror attack, which resulted in the deaths of 26 people. Amid widespread speculation regarding a potential Indian response to Pakistan over cross-border terror links, the EU intervened with a message of de-escalation.

Kaja Kallas, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, held separate phone discussions with India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar. 

In a statement shared on X on Friday, Kallas described the deteriorating situation as “alarming” and emphasized that an escalation would benefit no one. “Rising tensions between India and Pakistan are alarming. I urge both sides to show restraint and pursue dialogue to ease the situation. Escalation helps no one,” she wrote. 

“I spoke to both @DrSJaishankar and @MishaqDar50 today to convey these messages,” she added.

Responding to the exchange, Jaishankar welcomed the EU’s condemnation of terrorism. In his post on X, he stated, “Good to speak with EU HRVP @kajakallas this evening. Discussed the Pahalgam terrorist attack. Welcome European Union's strong condemnation of terrorism in all forms and manifestations.”

The EU’s appeal comes just two days after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also called on both nations to cooperate and reduce tensions in light of the attack.

However, the EU’s neutral stance has drawn sharp criticism from foreign policy commentators and social media users, many of whom accused the bloc of applying double standards when compared to its position on the Russia-Ukraine conflict. 

Critics highlighted that Kallas avoided directly addressing Pakistan’s history of supporting cross-border terrorism against India.

Commentators pointed to Kallas’s previous strong remarks on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in which she supported decisive action and defended military assistance to Ukraine. 

“I hope Europe learnt that appeasement only strengthens the aggressor. The aggressor will never stop unless he is stopped,” she had stated. 

In another post, she emphasized, “Defence is not provocation.” She further wrote, “Fear of escalation creates self-deterrence. As a result, some argue that helping Ukraine defend itself from aggression means to escalate. Defence is not provocation.”

The EU’s apparent reluctance to address Pakistan’s role more directly prompted criticism from several analysts. One foreign policy lecturer commented, “To be clear, most Indians have rarely expected Europe to do much about Pakistan, considering its historical record.” 

Another analyst described Kallas’s statement as “purposeless” and “ineffectual,” adding, “Feels like a return of the hyphenated India-Pakistan era with this statement from Brussels.”

Sushant Sareen, a senior fellow at the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), criticized the EU’s understanding of the regional context. He wrote on social media, “If you had any knowledge, you would know dialogue and diplomacy has been done to death (the death of Indians at the hands of Islamist Pakistani terrorists) and you have blithely turned a blind eye to the shenanigans of the Islamic State of Pakistan. Please do tell us what dialogue and diplomacy has achieved so far?”

Oliver Blarel, a visiting fellow at the Carnegie Endowment, also denounced the EU’s position as overly balanced and lacking awareness of the complexities involved. “It shows lack of knowledge (India has shared Xth times dossiers to Pakistan after such acts, to no avail) and sensitivity (asking India to just wait arms crossed is a non-starter),” Blarel said on X.

Some critics drew attention to Jaishankar’s remarks made in 2022 during a conference in Bratislava, where he highlighted Europe’s selective engagement with global issues. “Europe has to grow out of the mindset that its problems are the world's problems, but the world's problems are not Europe's problems,” Jaishankar had said, amid suggestions that India's neutrality on Ukraine could affect European support in other geopolitical matters.

The EU remains Pakistan’s second-largest trading partner and has maintained a longstanding diplomatic relationship with Islamabad. Analysts have suggested that these ties may influence the bloc’s cautious and equidistant approach in the current context.

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