Pakistan, India have had contacts: Envoy

WASHINGTON — Pakistan's ambassador to the United States said on Thursday that India and Pakistan have had contacts at the level of their respective National Security Councils, when asked if the nuclear-armed neighbors had any ongoing lines of conversation.

The ambassador, Rizwan Saeed Sheikh, made the comments in an interview with CNN.

"I think there has been contact at the level of NSCs, but then this escalation, both in terms of the actions that have been taken and in terms of rhetoric that is coming out, has to stop," Sheikh said in the interview without giving more details about the contacts.

"Now the responsibility for de-escalation is on India, but there are constraints on restraint. Pakistan reserves the right to respond back. There is enough pressure from our public opinion on the government to respond," he added.

There have been no comments on this issue from New Delhi.

Many global powers have urged New Delhi and Islamabad to de-escalate tensions and keep lines of communication open. Washington has called for direct dialogue.

US Vice-President JD Vance said on Thursday that India and Pakistan should de-escalate tensions. However, he added that the US cannot control the neighbors and a war between them would be "none of our business".

"We want this thing to de-escalate as quickly as possible. We can't control these countries, though," Vance said in an interview on the Fox News show The Story with Martha MacCallum.

"What we can do is try to encourage these folks to de-escalate a little bit, but we're not going to get involved in the middle of war that's fundamentally none of our business and has nothing to do with America's ability to control it," he added.

Tensions between India and Pakistan have escalated following a deadly attack on tourists in Pahalgam in the India-controlled Kashmir on April 22.

On Friday, Pakistani military sources confirmed to AFP that 77 Indian drones were shot down over two days.

Meanwhile, the Indian army said that it "repulsed" Pakistani attacks using drones and other munitions overnight and gave a "befitting reply".

The death toll from India and Pakistan's biggest clashes in decades passed 50 on Friday with each country accusing the other of sending waves of drone attacks.

India's biggest domestic cricket tournament, the Indian Premier League, which attracts top players from around the world, was suspended for one week.

Pakistan also moved its own domestic tournament to the United Arab Emirates because of the tensions.

AGENCIES VIA XINHUA