Pompeo urges India, Pakistan 'to exercise restraint'

By Servet Gunerigok</p> <p>WASHINGTON (AA) – U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has called on India and Pakistan to exercise restraint after Indian jets launched attacks inside Pakistan-administered Kashmir.</p> <p>In a statement Tuesday, the State Department said Pompeo spoke separately with India's Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj and Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi.</p> <p>&quot;I expressed to both ministers that we encourage India and Pakistan to exercise restraint and avoid escalation at any cost,&quot; Pompeo said. &quot;I also encouraged both ministers to prioritize direct communication and avoid further military activity.&quot; </p> <p>Indian jets intruded into Pakistan’s airspace early Tuesday amid mounting tensions but “escaped” without causing any casualties, according to Pakistani army spokesman Asif Ghafoor.</p> <p>However, India claimed that its air force struck the “biggest training camp of Jaish-e-Mohammed” in Balakot, Pakistan and killed “several terrorists”.</p> <p>Tensions between the two countries have mounted since Feb. 14, when a suicide bombing claimed by Jaish-e-Mohammed on an army convoy killed at least 44 Indian paramilitary troops in the single deadliest assault on India’s forces in Jammu and Kashmir in three decades.</p> <p>New Delhi blames Pakistan for the attack, a charge which Islamabad denies.