Pakistan-India nuclear stand-off: Global effort to mediate peaks

MOSCOW/JORDAN/ISLAMABAD: With the Pakistan-India military tensions yet to subside in the wake of Pulwama suicide bombing which India blamed on Pakistan in a knee-jerk reaction, the international community, including the brotherly Muslim countries, on Friday rushed in offering mediation.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Friday called his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi and offered mediation for reducing tension that was accepted. Lavrov stressed that the existing disputes between Islamabad and New Delhi should be resolved through diplomatic means, the Russian Foreign Ministry said, the international media reported.

"During the talks, the two sides discussed the situation in South Asia amid the sharp deterioration of relations between Pakistan and India. The Russian minister stressed the need for all countries to comply with the provisions of universal counter-terrorism conventions and to cooperate in their implementation," the ministry said in a statement.

"Lavrov reiterated Moscow's readiness to promote de-escalation of tensions and absence of an alternative to resolving any differences between Islamabad and New Delhi by political and diplomatic means," the statement said.

According to the statement, Lavrov pointed out at the possibility of using the mechanism of Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) for this purpose.

Meanwhile, expressing concern over the escalation between Pakistan and India, Jordanian King Abdullah-II Friday offered mediation to help deescalate the tension.

In a telephonic conversation with Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday, the Jordanian king conveyed his disquiet over the escalating situation between Pakistan and India.

According to an official release of the Prime Minster Office (PMO), the king felicitated Prime Minister Imran Khan on his statesman-like approach towards handling the difficult situation.

Prime Minister Khan briefed King Abdullah-II about his initiatives to maintain peace between Pakistan and India for the sake of peoples of the two countries and the region.

He reiterated that the core issue between the two countries remains the issue of Kashmir that needs to be resolved as per the United Nations resolutions.

The prime minister reminded the Jordanian king that his government's agenda was to promote peace and prosperity for the people of Pakistan through poverty alleviation and social welfare programs. However, the war hysteria unleashed in India was threatening peace of the region.

Khan thanked the Jordanian king for his offer of mediation and invited him to visit Pakistan at his earliest convenience.

Diplomatic sources pointed out that Jordan was viewed as a brotherly Muslim country that had always been supporting Pakistan on various international forums. The bilateral ties between Pakistan and Jordan had throughout been admirable.

Meanwhile, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir’s visit to Pakistan scheduled for Friday was postponed, Geo News reported. The sources said Saudi foreign minister may visit India first on Saturday, adding that he was expected to arrive in Pakistan on Sunday. They, however, said that details of Jubeir's visit were still under consideration.

The two-day visit of the Saudi foreign minister is being planned according to the new schedule, the sources said.

The process of finalising the agenda of meetings during Jubeir's visit to Pakistan is also ongoing, they informed further. The purpose of the Saudi minister's visit to Pakistan is to help deescalate tensions between Islamabad and New Delhi.

In a related development, Chief of the Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa Friday held telephonic communication with the US and British military leadership and diplomats reiterating that Pakistan would respond in self-defence to any aggression from India.

“Pakistan shall purely response to any aggression in its self-defence,” the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) quoted the army chief as saying. General Bajwa Friday held telephonic communication with the Commander of US Central Command (USCENTCOM), UK Chief of the Defence Staff, Chief of Defence Forces of Australia, and ambassadors of the United States, United Kingdom and China.

The army chief maintained that Pakistan wanted peace in the region but had the capability to respond to any aggression from the Indian side. The international community is concerned over stand-off between the two countries and their civil and military leadership has been in contact with Pakistani leaders as part of efforts to defuse ongoing tension. The world leaders have praised Pakistan’s goodwill gesture of releasing the captured Indian pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan who was sent back to his country on Friday night.