FM Qureshi urges UN to play part in defusing Pak-India tensions

Qureshi has raised certain concerns over the negative tactics applied by the Modi's government.

ISLAMABAD (Web Desk) – Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has written a letter to the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres drawing his attention to the deteriorating security situation in the region resulting from threat of use of force against Pakistan by India.

The letter stated, "The Pulwama attack on Indian Central Reserve Police Force was ostensibly and even by Indian accounts carried out by a Kashmiri resident of Indian Occupied Kashmir. Attributing it to Pakistan even before investigations is absurd.

For domestic political reasons, India has deliberately ratcheted up its hostile rhetoric against Pakistan and created a tense environment. It has also hinted that it may abandon the Indus Waters Treaty. This would be a grievous error. "

It is imperative to take steps for de-escalation. The United Nations must step into defuse tensions. India must be asked to conduct an open and credible investigation on Pulwama incident, it added.

The letter further read, "You may also consider asking India to refrain from further escalating the situation and enter into dialogue with Pakistan and the Kashmiris to calm the situation down."

FM Qureshi said, "I request that this letter be circulated to members of the Security Council and General Assembly."

India threatens to isolate Pakistan at international level

Earlier, Indian government had blamed Pakistan for Pulwama attack and threatened to isolate it at international level.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said those behind the terror attack would pay a "very heavy price" and had made a "huge mistake".

Union Minister Arun Jaitley said they will take all possible diplomatic steps to ensure "complete isolation" of Pakistan and has withdrawn Most Favoured Nation status to the country.

Pulwama attack

At least 44 Indian paramilitary soldiers were killed on Thursday in Indian-occupied Kashmir in one the deadliest attacks. The attack saw explosives packed inside a van rip through buses in a convoy of 78 vehicles carrying some 2,500 members of the paramilitary CRPF.

Two blue buses carrying around 35 people each bore the brunt of the massive blast, heard miles away, around 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the city of Srinagar on the main highway to Jammu.

Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since independence. Rebels have been fighting for an independent Kashmir, or a merger with Pakistan, for 30 years.

Last year was the deadliest in a decade, with rights monitors saying almost 600 Kashmiri people died, most of them civilians. Thousands more have been maimed in recent years by pellet-firing shotguns used by Indian forces.