Pakistan asks Gulf allies to help ease India tensions following Kashmir attack

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s prime minister met Friday with envoys from Gulf allies, seeking to defuse tensions with India following last week’s deadly attack on tourists in the disputed Kashmir region, his office said.

In separate meetings with the Saudi, Kuwait and UAE ambassadors, Shehbaz Sharif briefed them on Islamabad’s stance regarding the April 22 attack in Indian-administered Kashmir, where 26 people, mostly Hindus, were killed.

India has blamed Pakistan for the attack, a charge Islamabad strongly rejects.

Following “credible intelligence” from a Pakistani minster that India intended military action over Pakistan’s alleged role in the Pahalgam tourist attack, Sharif and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar have received calls from the United States and other nations’ diplomats, according to Sharif’s office and Pakistan’s ministry of foreign affairs.

The international community has encouraged both sides to exercise restraint.

Sharif’s office stated Friday that he had urged “brotherly countries, including Saudi Arabia, to press India for de-escalation and the defusal of tensions,” reiterating Pakistan’s commitment to peace and stability in South Asia.

Tensions have been high in the South Asian region since last week’s attack in Kashmir, a situation exacerbated by retaliatory actions between the two nuclear-armed rivals, including the expulsion of diplomats and citizens, border closures and airspace shutdowns.

India has also suspended a critical water-sharing treaty with Pakistan.

Sharif told UAE’s ambassador Hamad Obaid Ibrahim Salem Al-Zaabi that Pakistan had no involvement in the attack on tourists and said he offered to join a credible, transparent and neutral international investigation, according to Sharif’s office.

In a meeting with the Saudi ambassador, Nawaf bin Saeed Al-Maliky, the prime minister briefed him about the latest situation. In response, the Saudi envoy said the Kingdom wanted to work with Pakistan for peace and security in the region, the statement said.

Pakistan and India have a history of bitter relations.

They have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir, a region split between them, since gaining independence from the former British colonial rule in 1947.

The Indian army said Friday in a statement it responded to “unprovoked” small arms fire from Pakistan for the eighth consecutive night in the Kupwara, Baramulla, Poonch, Naushera, and Akhnoor areas of Indian-controlled Kashmir. There was no immediate comment from Pakistan.

No casualties were reported in the latest exchange of fire in Kashmir.

Also on Friday, more than 200 members of civil society and political parties rallied in Muzaffarabad, the main city in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, denouncing India’s steps against Pakistan.

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Hussain reported from Srinagar, India