WASHINGTON: Pakistan’s ambassador to the US said on Thursday (May 8) that India and Pakistan have had contact at the level of their respective national security councils, when asked if the nuclear-armed Asian neighbours had any ongoing lines of conversation.
The ambassador, Rizwan Saeed Sheikh, made the comments in an interview with CNN in which he also said the responsibility to de-escalate tensions between the two countries lay with India after two days of clashes.
“I think there have been contact at the level of NSCs, but then this escalation, both in terms of the actions that have been taken and in terms of rhetoric that is coming out, has to stop,” Sheikh said in the interview without giving more details about the contacts.
“Now the responsibility for de-escalation is on India, but there are constraints on restraint. Pakistan reserves the right to respond back,” he added.
“There is enough pressure from our public opinion on the government to respond.”
