Efforts on for back-channel contacts with India after Nawaz Sharif attends Pakistan's security huddle: Report

At a time when Pakistan's civil and military leadership is emphasising on responding to India amid military conflict, efforts are being made by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to strengthen back-channel contacts to defuse tension with New Delhi, a media report said on Friday.

Nawaz, the chief of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), attended a security huddle at the Prime Minister's House on Thursday night and advised his younger brother and incumbent prime minister Shehbaz Sharif to ease tensions with India diplomatically.

Tensions between India and Pakistan soared significantly following India's Operation Sindoor on early Wednesday in response to the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22 that had cross-border linkages. Pakistan subsequently made unsuccessful attempt to attack 15 Indian cities.

“The elder Sharif wants the government to utilise all available diplomatic resources to restore peace between the two nuclear-armed states,” daily newspaper Express Tribune said.

“I am not in favour of taking an aggressive position (against India),” Nawaz was quoted as saying.

“Nawaz returned to Pakistan from London to dial down tensions between the two countries. He had been working behind the scenes...but Thursday's formal entry into the scene amid the current stand-off between the two countries is to strengthen the backdoor contact,” Express Tribune said.

Nawaz attended the high-level civil-military meeting in the PM House convened to assess the Indo-Pak tensions. Since he holds no government portfolio, he attended the meeting in the capacity of the head of the ruling party government, the newspaper said.

Nawaz was the prime minister during the 1999 Kargil conflict. Meanwhile, the National Assembly on Friday unanimously backed Pakistan's military response to India and called it a show of national unity.

“The lawmakers from various political parties rallied behind the armed forces, applauding their steadfast actions to defend the country's sovereignty,” The News International reported.

Earlier, Pakistan on Friday rejected reports in the Indian media that it had attacked multiple places in India, saying such claims are “entirely unfounded” and part of a “reckless propaganda campaign”.

Pakistan remains vigilant and firmly committed to peace, but it will not be deterred by attempts to provoke, intimidate, or mislead and reserves the right to respond to acts of aggression, a statement from the Foreign Office said.