British Foreign Secretary David Lammy met his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar in Islamabad today - nearly a week after the ceasefire, which ended one of the worst military confrontations between India and Pakistan in the last two decades, reported Agence France-Presse, BTA reports.
The military clash between the two nuclear powers has raised serious concerns about a possible escalation to the point of no return. The tension was brought under control after the unexpectedly announced ceasefire by US President Donald Trump.
Lammy was received at the Pakistani Foreign Ministry, as seen in footage broadcast on state television. The two foreign ministers, however, made no public statements after the meeting.
The UK - a former colonial power that left the region before the bloody partition of India and Pakistan in 1947 - was among the first countries to call for an end to hostilities.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer expressed his readiness to "urgently engage" in peace efforts between the two neighboring countries.
Washington and Islamabad confirmed that the US had played a role in mediating the de-escalation – a claim that India, which has consistently rejected international intervention on the issue, has officially denied.
During the conflict, senior diplomats from Iran and Saudi Arabia also visited Islamabad and Delhi in an attempt to help defuse tensions.
The escalation reached a peak on the night of May 7, when India fired missiles at targets in Pakistan it suspected of harboring fighters from a jihadist group suspected of the April 22 attack in Pahlagam that killed 26 people.
According to the Pakistani military, the airstrikes killed 40 civilians, half of them women and children. Artillery fire, drone attacks, air clashes and missile exchanges from both sides of the border followed.
Pakistan reported 13 soldiers killed, while India recorded 16 civilian deaths and five soldiers.