Is the threat of further escalation between India and Pakistan over?
New Delhi, Mar 13: The threat of further escalation between India and Pakistan after the Pulwama terror attack is over, an internal assessment of the Pakistan government has concluded.
The Express Tribune reported that the assessment was shared by a senior official on Monday in a background briefing on the current state of relations between the two neighbouring countries.
"There is a visible de-escalation in tension," the official said.
The official told journalists that Pakistan did not foresee any further "aggressive action" from India, the report said.
Tensions flared up between India and Pakistan after a suicide bomber of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Muhammed (JeM) killed 40 CRPF personnel in Kashmir's Pulwama district on February 14.
Amid
mounting
outrage,
the
Indian
Air
Force
carried
out
a
counter-terror
operation,
hitting
the
biggest
JeM
training
camp
in
Balakot,
deep
inside
Pakistan
on
February
26.
The
next
day,
Pakistan
Air
Force
retaliated
and
downed
a
MiG-21
in
an
aerial
combat
and
captured
Indian
pilot,
who
was
handed
over
to
India
on
March
1.
Reciprocal visit by Indian officials to Pak cancelled
There was fear that India may launch more strikes or escalate the situation to end the crisis on a high note, the paper said.
When asked whether Pakistan feared another possible 'misadventure' by India before the elections in the country, the official confidently replied: "There is no room for such aggressive action from India".
The upbeat assessment of the government is apparently linked to hectic diplomacy involving many regional and international players, seeking de-escalation in tensions between the two countries, the paper said.
In a first sign of easing of tensions, Pakistani and Indian high commissioners resumed their diplomatic work in Islamabad and New Delhi on Saturday.
Both
countries
called
back
their
envoys
for
consultations
soon
after
the
Pulwama
attack.
India
handed
over
to
Pakistan
a
dossier
on
"specific
details" of
involvement
of
the
JeM
in
the
attack.