Rubio urges de-escalation in India, Pakistan calls amid soaring tensions

Islamabad asks the United States to help ease tensions with New Delhi after receiving ‘credible intelligence’ of an imminent strike.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has urged India and Pakistan to work with each other to de-escalate tensions after last week’s attack in Indian-administered Kashmir, according to the US Department of State.

In separate calls with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on Wednesday, Rubio expressed support to India in combating “terrorism” and urged Pakistan to cooperate in probing the attack, the State Department said.

Sharif’s office said in a statement that the Pakistani leader urged Washington to press India to “dial down the rhetoric and act responsibly”.

He also expressed regret that India had chosen to “weaponise water” by stepping away from the Indus Waters Treaty, which does not permit unilateral withdrawal from its commitments governing river flows in disputed Kashmir.

The call came after Islamabad claimed to have “credible intelligence” that India was planning to attack it within 24-36 hours, in retaliation for the killing of 26 men in last week’s deadly attack on tourists in Indian-controlled Kashmir.

India has moved to punish Pakistan after accusing it of backing the attack in the Kashmiri town of Pahalgam, which Islamabad denies, driving tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals to their highest point since a suicide car bombing in 2019.

New Delhi shut its airspace to Pakistani airlines, the government said on Wednesday, days after Islamabad banned Indian airlines from flying over its territory. The ban on Pakistani aircraft will be in effect from April 30 to May 23, according to a Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) issued by the government.

Indian and Pakistani troops have exchanged small-arms fire over the past six nights, which New Delhi says was initiated by the Pakistani side across their de facto border running through Kashmir. No casualties were reported.

Hindu-majority India accuses Pakistan of funding and encouraging armed groups in Kashmir, a Himalayan territory claimed in its entirety by both nations but ruled in part by each of them. Islamabad says it only provides moral and diplomatic support to a Kashmiri demand for self-determination.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in separate phone calls with India and Pakistan officials, stressed the need to “avoid a confrontation that could result in tragic consequences”.

Britain has also called for calm between its Indian and Pakistani communities, and advised against all travel to Jammu and Kashmir – India’s official name for the territory – with few exceptions.

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Al Jazeera and news agencies