The US on Wednesday firmly asked Pakistan to take “meaningful action” against terrorist groups operating on its soil after India’s counter-terrorism action against it and asked the two neighbours to exercise restraint and avoid escalation at any cost.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in a phone call with Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi also called for avoiding military action.
In a separate call with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Pompeo emphasised the close security partnership between the US and India and shared goal of maintaining peace and security in the region.
His statement came amid growing tensions between the two countries after 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed in a suicide attack by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district on February 14, sparking outrage in the country.
Following the incident, India on Tuesday bombed and destroyed JeM’s biggest training camp in Balakot in Pakistan’s restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, about 80-km from the Line of Control (LoC), killing a “very large number” of terrorists, trainers and senior commanders.
Pompeo is currently in Vietnam to attend the second summit between President Donald Trump and the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on the denuclearsation of the Korean peninsula.
