Moscow has called for de-escalation after New Delhi attacked alleged terrorist facilities in Kashmir
Russia has expressed its deep concerns over the rising violence between India and Pakistan, and is urging both nations to take measures to prevent further escalation.
Tensions surged following last month’s terrorist attack in Baisaran Valley in India’s Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory that left 26 civilians dead. On Tuesday, the Indian military launched “Operation Sindoor” and conducted strikes in Pakistan and the Pakistan-controlled part of Kashmir, prompting Islamabad to threaten retaliation against what it deemed a violation of the country’s sovereignty.
“Russia decisively condemns all acts of terrorism, objects to any terrorist activities and emphasizes the need for the international community to unite to effectively fight against this evil,” the Russian Foreign Ministry stated on Wednesday. Moscow called for restraint and expressed hope that India and Pakistan would settle their disputes “through peaceful political and diplomatic means.”
On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin reached out to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to convey his personal condolences regarding the April 22 attack and reaffirmed the strategic partnership between the two countries.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov contacted his counterparts in India and Pakistan last week, offering Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Muhammad Ishaq Dar Moscow’s assistance in reducing tensions.
New Delhi said on Wednesday that it had hit at least nine “terrorist camps,” claiming that Pakistan’s armed forces and civilians were not its targets and describing its action as “measured and non-escalatory.”
Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said a key target on Tuesday was the Masjid wa Markaz Taiba mosque complex in Muridke, near Lahore in Pakistan’s Punjab province, which is considered the ideological and operational center of the Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist group. The Resistance Front (TRF), believed to be tied to Lashkar-e-Taiba, initially claimed responsibility for the Kashmir attack, though later reports indicated that the group has distanced itself from it.
Pakistan’s military spokesman Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry has said that Indian missile strikes have killed eight civilians and injured 38 others. The country’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif stated his government “has every right to respond forcefully to this act of war imposed by India.”
