Pakistan's ambassador to Washington, Rizwan Saeed Sheikh, said that there are communications between Pakistan and India at the level of national security councils, despite the growing tension between the two countries. This became clear in an interview with the American television channel CNN, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
“I think there is a connection at the level of national security councils. This escalation - both in terms of actions taken and in terms of rhetoric - must be stopped“, Sheikh stressed.
The diplomat made this statement in response to a question about whether the two nuclear powers maintain a communication channel. He added that after two days of clashes, the responsibility for the de-escalation lies primarily with India.
“Pakistan deserves the right to respond“, Sheikh added.
Yesterday, Pakistan and India accused each other of drone attacks. Pakistan's defense minister warned that retaliation from Islamabad was becoming “increasingly likely“.
The latest wave of tension between the two rivals began on April 22, when 26 people were killed in an attack in Indian-controlled Kashmir. Delhi blamed Islamabad for the attack, which has categorically denied involvement and called for an independent investigation.
Pakistan has also rejected Indian allegations that it was behind airstrikes on Indian territory. In an official statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad said:
“The Government of Pakistan categorically rejects the baseless and irresponsible allegations spread by the Indian media blaming Pakistan for attacks on Pathankot, Jaisalmer and Srinagar.“
For its part, the Indian armed forces reported on the social network X (formerly Twitter) that Pakistani drones and other ordnance attacked targets along the shared border overnight, but the attacks were successfully repelled.