The US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke separately with the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan and urged them to avoid “further military activity” following an air strike by India inside Pakistan.
Pompeo spoke with Pakistan’s FM Qureshi to underscore the priority of de-escalating current tensions by avoiding military action, and the urgency of Pakistan taking meaningful action against terrorist groups operating on its soil, the US Department of State said in a statement.
“I expressed to both Ministers that we encourage India and Pakistan to exercise restraint, and avoid escalation at any cost,” Pompeo said on Tuesday.
This comes hours after, the Indian air force jets carried out air strikes on militant camps inside Pakistan on Tuesday, a government minister said, the first Indian comment on the raids.
“Air Force carried out aerial strike early morning today at terror camps across the LoC (Line of Control) and Completely destroyed it,” minister of state for agriculture Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said on Twitter.
Pakistan’s military said Indian military aircraft had crossed into its territory in the disputed Kashmir region and “released a payload” after Pakistan scrambled its own jets, but there were no casualties or damage.
The Indian media reported that the Jaish-e- Mohammed group was involved in Pulwama attack on February 14 that killing 40 India’s CRPF personnel.
After the airstrike, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in a phone conversation with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said that the joint peace efforts in Afghanistan can be affected because of the Indian “aggression”.
