World urges maximum restraint, but with clear tilt towards India

NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 26

The world community, focused on the Donald Trump-Kim Jong Un summit in Hanoi, urged India and Pakistan not to escalate the situation arising from the IAF’s bombing of JeM military camps in Balakot.

While Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale explained India’s position of undertaking a pre-emptive strike to envoys from major countries, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj reached out to her US counterpart Mike Pompeo. Sushma Swaraj will also be conducting consultative diplomacy in Beijing where she will meet her counterparts from China and Russia and seek a better appreciation of the Indian position.

India’s intensive diplomacy to isolate Pakistan on its sheltering of jihadis was reflected in messages from China, Australia and the European Union. All statements urged restraint but the fine print showed a distinct tilt towards the Indian position, evident from the absence of any empathy for Pakistan’s complaint of an uncalled-for military intrusion.

China termed both India and Pakistan important countries in South Asia and wanted them to keep restraint. It counselled them to settle their disputes at regional forums. Russia in a message before the Indian airstrikes had also asked both countries to utilise the Shanghai Cooperation Forum to reconcile.

An EU diplomat, in a telephonic conversation with Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi a day earlier, criticised Islamabad’s use of terror as state policy. — TNS