Calls for peace and restraint from India and Pakistan have been pouring in from around the world after tensions between the nuclear-armed powers flared up over a deadly attack in Indian-administered Kashmir in April, world news agencies reported on Wednesday.
India announced on Tuesday that it had launched ‘Operation Sindh’, targeting “terrorist infrastructure” in Pakistan and “occupied Jammu and Kashmir”. India says the offensive is in response to a “barbaric terrorist attack” in Pahalgam, where Pakistani Islamists killed at least 26 tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir.
Pakistan’s security cabinet has declared the overnight Indian missile strikes on its territory an act of war and authorised the country’s military to retaliate, the prime minister’s office said on Wednesday.
Pakistan later said the attacks killed at least 26 civilians and wounded 46. Islamabad retaliated with artillery fire across the border in Kashmir, killing at least three Indians, the AFP news agency reported.
Beijing and London have expressed their readiness to intervene diplomatically to defuse the situation, while Washington, Paris and Moscow have called for a diplomatic solution and restraint, the STA reported.
China, which also holds part of Kashmir, has expressed regret over the escalation.
“India and Pakistan are inseparable neighbours,” a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said.
He urged India to prioritize peace and stability and avoid taking steps that would further complicate the situation. He added that China was ready to play a constructive role in deescalating the situation.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke to his counterparts from both countries after the attack. He urged them to calm the situation and establish communication between the two leaders, a spokesman for the US National Security Council revealed.
British Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds sent a message to the BBC that “both countries are friends and partners” of Great Britain and that London stands ready to support them.
The British Foreign Office advised its citizens not to travel near the border between the two countries.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot told TF1 television that “a confrontation between India and Pakistan is in no one’s interest”.
He added that he had spoken to colleagues from both countries and that France understood India’s desire for protection from terrorism.
