The Iranian Foreign Ministry called on Tuesday on India and Pakistan to de-escalate tensions and settle existing differences via dialogue
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th February, 2019) The Iranian Foreign Ministry called on Tuesday on India and Pakistan to de-escalate tensions and settle existing differences via dialogue.Earlier in the day, Indian Minister of State for Agriculture Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said that the Indian Air Force had carried out an airstrike against a Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist camp located across the so-called Line of Control (LoC), separating the Indian- and Pakistani-controlled parts of Jammu and Kashmir, and completely destroyed the facility. The Indian Foreign Ministry said that the attack was "absolutely necessary," given Islamabad's failure to take measures to eliminate terrorist infrastructure.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran calls on India and Pakistan to keep restraint and boost efforts on de-escalation of tensions and peaceful settlement of differences and problems via dialogue," Iranian Foreign Ministry's spokesman Bahram Qassemi said, as quoted by the Telegram channel of the ministry.
India's aerial operation came in the wake of the February 14 terror attack when a car filled with explosives was detonated on the Jammu-Srinagar highway, killing 45 Indian officers.
After the attack, India blamed Pakistan for harboring and protecting terrorists, accusing the country of having a "direct hand" in the incident. As a punitive measure, India has withdrawn Pakistan's most-favored nation status and raised custom duties on goods imported from Pakistan to 200 percent.
Pakistan has, in turn, rejected the allegations of its involvement in the attack, qualifying it as New Delhi's strategy to divert international attention from human rights violations taking place in the Kashmir region.
