Islamabad (TDI): The US, Türkiye and Qatar on Wednesday offered to play their roles in de-escalating the current situation arising out of naked Indian aggression against Pakistan.
US President Donald Trump called for India and Pakistan to immediately halt their fighting, and offered to help end the worst violence between the nuclear-armed nations in two decades.
Trump said, “It’s so terrible. I get along with both countries, I know both nations very well, and I want to see them work it out. I want to see them stop fighting. They’ve gone tit-for-tat, so hopefully they can stop now.”
“We get along with both nations very well, we have good ties with both, and I want to see the escalation stop,” He said in the Oval Office, offering mediation.
Trump initially played down the crisis as part of old tensions between Pakistan and India, even stating they had been fighting for 1,500 years, despite the two states only forming after independence from Britain in 1947.
Read More: China Steps In: Calls for Peace Between Pakistan, India
But his administration has scrambled into action in the last twenty-four hours since the Indian airstrikes.
Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan telephoned Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to condole the loss of precious lives of Pakistani nationals in the Indian missile attacks. He assured that Ankara was ready to play its role as a committed friend of Pakistan.
Reaffirming Türkiye solidarity with the people of Pakistan, Erdogan stated that Ankara supported de-escalation of the situation and that the Turkish nation was praying for the success of Islamabad’s diplomatic initiatives.
Read More: India Crossed the Line: Pakistan Vows to Hit Back
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also received a telephone call from Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar, and discussed the ongoing situation in the region.
During the conversation, Jaber Al Thani stated that Qatar wanted to play its role in defusing the tensions in the region.
While thanking Qatar for its solidarity and backing to Pakistan at this tough time, PM Shehbaz strongly condemned India’s missile strikes targeting six locations in Pakistan, as an unprovoked act of war.
Jaber Al Thani expressed condolences for the loss of precious lives and appreciated islamabad’s commitment to fostering peace in South Asia.
In addition, The United Nations (UN) renewed its call for “maximum restraint” after India’s aggression against Pakistan that took innocent lives, and the Pakistani forceful retaliatory action that silenced the guns.
Responding to queries at a media briefing at UN Headquarters in New York, UN Spokesperson Stephanie Tramblay said that the world cannot afford a military confrontation between the two South Asian neighbors.
Farkhund Yousafzai is an Associate Editor at The Diplomatic Insight.
