Comedian and Daily Show host Trevor Noah has apologized following a backlash after he made a joke last week about the possibility of war between India and Pakistan.
As tensions between the neighboring nuclear powers escalated over the long-disputed region of Kashmir, Noah joked that war between the two would be "the most entertaining" as he imitated a Bollywood-like dance number.
"It would also be the longest war of all time — another dance number?" he said.
The remarks quickly elicited scorn on social media, with many slamming Noah's joke as racist and culturally insensitive.
Noah responded over the weekend by describing his use of comedy to "process pain," and apologized, writing in a tweet, "I am sorry that this hurt you and others, that's not what I was trying to do."
The relationship between India and Pakistan reached a crisis point last week when Pakistan shot down and captured an Indian fighter pilot over Kashmir. That came after a suicide bomb attack that killed 40 Indian troops in the long-disputed region of Kashmir last month. A Pakistani-based extremist group, Jaish-e-Mohammed, claimed responsibility for the attack.
Islamabad has since released the Indian pilot in what Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan called a "peace gesture."
Actually if you watch my stand up you'll see that I did make jokes after my mother was shot in the head. As a comedian I use comedy to process pain and discomfort in my world but I am sorry that this hurt you and others, that's not what I was trying to do. https://t.co/OuVnkHyIfG
— Trevor Noah (@Trevornoah) March 2, 2019
Despite a ratcheing down of tensions following the release of the Indian pilot last week, NPR's Lauren Frayer reports that shelling continues along the de facto border between Indian- and Pakistani-controlled parts of Kashmir.
Meanwhile, U.S. officials told Reuters that they are trying to prevent the tensions between the two countries from having an impact on peace talks in Afghanistan. According to unnamed sources, Pakistani officials told their U.S. counterparts that their ability to facilitate peace talks could be hampered in the event of a full-blown crisis.
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