U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Thursday expressed his strong support to India in a phone call with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, days after the terrorist attack in Pahalgam.

“Today, I spoke with Indian Defence Minister @rajnathsingh to personally extend my deepest condolences for the loss of life in the heinous terrorist attack last week. I offered my strong support. We stand with India and its great people,” he said in a post on X.

Hegseth joined a growing list of U.S. leaders who have reached out to their Indian counterparts in the aftermath of the 22 April attack, which claimed 26 lives.

U.S. President Donald Trump had reached out to Prime Minister Narendra Modi within hours of the incident, while U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Wednesday.

According to a statement from the Ministry of Defence, Singh told his American counterpart that Pakistan has long been complicit in the support, training, and funding of terrorist groups.

“Pakistan has been exposed as a rogue state, fuelling global terrorism and destabilising the region,” Singh said.

“The world can no longer afford to turn a blind eye to terrorism.”

Singh told his American counterpart that “Pakistan has a history of supporting, training, and funding terrorist organisations,” according to the ministry.

(With input from Ani)