‘Influential players’ push for crisis talks

PM Imran tells Modi to give peace a chance

ISLAMABAD: Hectic behind the scene efforts by 'influential countries' have raised the possibility of crisis talks between Pakistan and India in order to avoid a potential conflict, officials and diplomatic sources have revealed.

"India is being persuaded by some powerful players to accept Pakistan's offer of cooperation on the Pulwama attack," disclosed a diplomatic source familiar with the backdoor diplomacy between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.

The push for seeking a diplomatic solution to the current standoff was first initiated by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who visited both Islamabad and New Delhi within days of the Pulwama attack.



The Saudi crown prince, whose initiative was backed by the United States and some other western countries, conveyed a message to the Indian leadership on behalf of Prime Minister Imran Khan that Pakistan was 'serious' in reaching out to India after the worst attack in three decades in the disputed territory.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) member National Assembly Dr Ramesh Kumar, who on Saturday met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, conveyed the same message.

It was because of this reason that Modi, who initially threatened to use force against Pakistan to avenge the killing of Indian paramilitary forces, has now changed his rhetoric, said sources.



Speaking at a rally in Rajasthan on Saturday, Modi dropped a clear hint of responding positively to Prime Minister Imran's offer of cooperation on Pulwama attack.

"When Pakistan got a new Prime Minister, I had congratulated him (Imran Khan). I had told him that we together should fight against poverty and illiteracy. He had said to me that he was son of a Pathan and will stand by his words. Today, it is time to test if he will stand by his words," Modi said.

In a televised address last Tuesday, Prime Minister Khan while strongly rejecting Indian allegations against Pakistan offered his Indian counterpart all possible assistance in investigating the Pulwama attack.

He went on to say that if any 'actionable intelligence' found Pakistan's involvement, he would act immediately and decisively.



On Sunday, PM Khan while responding to Modi's latest statement made in Rajasthan, said, he "stands by his words that if India gives us actionable intelligence, we will immediately act."

In a statement, he said in his meeting with Narendra Modi in December 2015, they had agreed that since poverty alleviation was a priority for their region, they would not allow any terrorist incident to derail peace efforts.

He, however, said long before Pulwama, these efforts were derailed in September 2018 and sadly, now peace remains elusive due to elections in India.

Imran Khan asked Narendra Modi to give peace a chance.

According to sources, efforts were being made to arrange 'some meeting' between the officials of the two countries in order to find a way out of the current stalemate.

Although, there is no official word from both sides, the US is quietly engaged with both countries for this purpose.

Shiv Sena warns BJP against using Pulwama attack for political gains

President Donald Trump recently said he was 'alarmed' by the current standoff between Pakistan and India.

"India is looking at something very strong. India just lost almost 50 people in the attack. I can understand that too," Trump said, adding that his administration was talking to authorities in both countries. "We're talking. A lot of people are. It's going to be a very, very delicate balance. There is a lot of problems between India and Pakistan because of what just happened," he said.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Office here on Sunday issued a strong statement on the developments ahead of the Indian Supreme Court proceedings on a petition calling for the scrapping of Article 35-A of Indian constitution, which grants a special status to the occupied Kashmir.

"We understand that the Supreme Court of India is due to deliberate, shortly, on the petitions calling for scrapping of Article 35A of the Indian Constitution," the statement said.

"Pakistan condemns any such attempts as these are clearly aimed at bringing about demographic changes in the Indian occupied Jammu & Kashmir. Any move in this direction would be a blatant violation of international law and the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions, which prohibit introducing material changes to the disputed territory," it read.



It said the evolving situation in the Indian occupied Kashmir was equally a matter of grave concern.

Following reprisal attacks against Kashmiris in the Indian occupied Kashmir and many parts of India after the Pulwama attack, there had been further heavy-handed steps including enhanced use of force, large-scale arrests, and incarceration of senior Kashmiri leaders.

"The large-scale deployment of additional paramilitary forces, and orders by the local administration to hospitals and about sale of fuel and food grains, are contributing to an atmosphere of extreme intimidation and fear. Immediate steps are required to reverse this frenzy and restore calm."

The Foreign Office said the international community should take cognisance of the situation and counsel India to refrain from further escalation, defuse current tensions and resolve issues through dialogue and engagement.