Washington DC [US], May 16 (ANI): Following US President Donald Trump's offer to mediate between India and Pakistan on the Kashmir issue, Tommy Pigott, the Principal Deputy Spokesperson for the US Department of State, highlighted the importance of maintaining peace in the region.

Pigott expressed the United States' satisfaction with the ongoing 'ceasefire' between the two countries, emphasising that the primary goal was to encourage direct talks between India and Pakistan.

While addressing a press briefing, Pigott said, 'What we are happy to see is a ceasefire. We want to encourage and see direct talks between the parties. Taking a step back, the President is a peacemaker, and we celebrate the advancement of peace. We hope the ceasefire will be maintained.'

Notably, Trump on Sunday welcomed the cessation of hostilities between India and Pakistan, saying that millions of people could have died if the peace had not been worked out. The US President was making a reference to a potential nuclear fallout between the two nations.

In a post on Truth Social, the US President said, 'I am very proud of the strong and unwaveringly powerful leadership of India and Pakistan for having the strength, wisdom, and fortitude to fully know and understand that it was time to stop the current aggression that could have led to the death and destruction of so many, and so much. Millions of good and innocent people could have died! Your legacy is greatly enhanced by your brave actions.'

Trump continued to hold on to the claim that the US had helped broker peace and offered to mediate for a solution on Kashmir.

'I am proud that the USA was able to help you arrive at this historic and heroic decision. While not even discussed, I am going to increase trade, substantially, with both of these great Nations. Additionally, I will work with you both to see if, after a 'thousand years,' a solution can be arrived at concerning Kashmir. God Bless the leadership of India and Pakistan on a job well done!!!'

India has time and again rejected any third-party intervention on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir and has unequivocally expressed that the region is an integral part of India. (ANI)