India emboldened by US stand: Pak diplomat
Washington DC, Feb 28 (IBNS): Pakistan Ambassador to the US Asad Majeed Khan has said the fact that the Trump administration had not condemned India's air strike on a Jaish-e-Mohammad camp in Pakistan had emboldened India.
"It is construed and understood as an endorsement of the Indian position and that is what emboldened them even more," Pakistan's envoy to Washington Asad Majeed Khan told reporters when asked about the US statement, said NDTV.
This comes a day after Pakistan gunned down an Indian Air Force plane and took the pilot in custody.
India-Pakistan relations are at its nadir in the wake of the February 14 attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama that claimed the lives of 40 Indian soldiers. Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad claimed responsibility for the attack.
A day after India and Pakistan got engaged in an air fight, the United States has urged both the countries to "cease all cross-border military activity" and deescalate the situation immediately, media reports said.
The US also said Pakistan must abide by the UN Security Council Commitments and should not give the terrorists a safe heaven.
The United States, the United Kingdom and France have also submitted a fresh proposal at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to designate Pakistan-based militant organisation Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM) chief Masood Azhar, who had carried out the Pulwama attack, as a global terrorist.
Tension between India and Pakistan
A day after the Indian Air Force (IAF) conducted a surgical strike across the Line of Control (LoC) in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) as a response to the Pulwama attack, Pakistan claimed that it has shot down two aircrafts of the IAF and captured a pilot.
The neighbouring nation also released a video and claimed that it is of an Indian pilot named Abhinandan.
In response to the claims, the Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said: "The Pakistan Air Force was detected and the Indian Air Force responded instantly. In that aerial engagement, one Pakistan Air Force fighter aircraft was shot down by a MiG 21 Bison of the Indian Air Force."
"The Pakistani aircraft was seen by ground forces falling from the sky on the Pakistan side. In this engagement, we have unfortunately lost one MiG 21. The pilot is missing in action. Pakistan has claimed that he is in their custody. We are ascertaining the facts," he said.
In the Pulwama attack, which took place on Feb 14, over 40 Indian paramilitary personnel were martyred.
In the surgical strike, India claimed a very large number of JeM terrorists, trainers, senior commanders and groups of jihadis who were being trained for fidayeen action were eliminated.
Let's talk: Imran Khan tells India
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday said his country is ready to sit on any form of 'dialogue' with India on the issue of 'terrorism'.
Addressing the nation, Khan was quoted as saying by Geo News: "I wanted to take you into confidence regarding the situation arising since yesterday. We offered India that we are ready to cooperate with them in any kind of investigation after the Pulwama attack. I know the grief the families of [those killed in Pulwama attack] have been going through."
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