Amidst heightened Indo-Pak tensions, Pakistan's three former foreign secretaries have urged their government to be prepared to deter any "aggressive action" by India after the deadly Pulwama terror attack while engaging in "robust diplomacy" to end the crisis peacefully.
Days after the attack by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad terror group that killed 40 CRPF soldiers on February 14, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said security forces have been given free hand to avenge the dastardly act.
In a joint article published in Dawn newspaper on Sunday, former foreign secretaries Riaz Hussain Khokhar, Riaz Mohammad Khan and Inamul Haq urged the media, political leadership, intelligentsia and public opinion makers in the two countries to show "responsibility to exercise restraint and take measures to bring some equanimity to the troubled environment".
Titled 'A time for restraint', the article started with asserting that "Tension between Pakistan and India is dangerously high" as Prime Minister Modi gave a free hand to his army to take retaliatory action for Pulwama.
India has threatened to "isolate" Pakistan and to strangulate its economy besides taking the symbolic step of withdrawing MFN status, they said.
"This fraught situation can spark a conflict with incalculable consequences for both Pakistan and India. Can they pull back from the brink?" they wrote.
They held that "Pulwama is not Mumbai" because the "signature is clearly that of an indigenous operation" and unlike Mumbai when India followed restraint, New Delhi after Pulwama "resorted to beat the drums of war."
They wrote that "Pakistan faces the challenge to avert a catastrophe that Indian actions may precipitate in South Asia."
The trio said that "if formal diplomatic channels with India are paralysed, there is always room for informal contacts."
However, the trio said that Kashmiri "struggle cannot be held hostage to concerns over terrorism; as it did not help to paint the Afghan Taliban as terrorist, who regardless of their antiquated outlook, are part of Afghanistan's political landscape."
They also said that when there is hope for peace in Afghanistan and the region, "Pakistan-India tension can negate that prospect."
"They are together in pursuit of peace with India and a better, cooperative regional environment. And, they are one alongside the nation if faced with aggression."
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