ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s envoy to the United States has asked President Donald Trump to step in and help ease soaring tensions with neighbouring India in the wake of a deadly attack in occupied Kashmir, according to a report by Newsweek.
The April 22 attack in occupied Kashmir’s Pahalgam killed 26 people, mostly tourists, marking one of the deadliest assaults in the region since 2000. India has implied cross-border links without evidence, while Pakistan’s civilian and military leadership have rejected the accusation and called for a neutral probe.
Tensions have since spiked, with Pakistan reinforcing its forces and India’s premier granting “operational freedom” to his military. As Pakistan, in the early hours of Wednesday, said it expected an incursion from India within the next 24-36 hours, diplomatic channels from other countries have been engaged to prevent a possible military confrontation.
Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US Rizwan Saeed Sheikh told Newsweek yesterday that for a president “standing for peace in the world as a pronounced objective during this administration” — referring to Trump — there was no “higher or flashier flashpoint” than the Kashmir issue.
“If we have a president who is standing for peace in the world as a pronounced objective during this administration, to establish a legacy as a peacemaker — or as someone who finished wars, defied wars and played a role in de-confliction, resolving the disputes — I don’t think there is any higher or flashier flash point, particularly in nuclear terms, as Kashmir,” Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US Rizwan Saeed Sheikh told Newsweek.
“We are not talking about one or two countries in that neighbourhood who [sic] are nuclear-capable. So, that is how grave it is,” he said in an interview with the US magazine.
In his inaugural speech as the US president, Trump had said: “My proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker and unifier.” A ceasefire, which has now been violated, was secured between Israel and Hamas following Trump’s election, and he has also been engaging with Ukraine and Russia to halt their war.
According to Newsweek, Sheikh contended that the Trump administration would need to pursue a more comprehensive and sustained initiative than in past US attempts to defuse crises that have erupted between Pakistan and India.
