{"id":9294,"date":"2019-02-18T17:32:09","date_gmt":"2019-02-18T09:32:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.namnewsnetwork.org\/?p=9294"},"modified":"2019-02-18T17:32:38","modified_gmt":"2019-02-18T09:32:38","slug":"saudi-vows-to-de-escalate-india-pakistan-tensions-after-kashmir-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/?p=9294","title":{"rendered":"Saudi vows to &#8216;de-escalate&#8217; India-Pakistan tensions after Kashmir attack"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"615\" src=\"http:\/\/www.namnewsnetwork.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/saudi-king-1024x615.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-9295\" srcset=\"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/saudi-king-1024x615.jpg 1024w, http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/saudi-king-300x180.jpg 300w, http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/saudi-king-768x461.jpg 768w, http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/saudi-king-600x360.jpg 600w, http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/saudi-king.jpg 1839w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption>Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman reviews a guard of honour at the Pakistan Prime Minister&#8217;s House in Islamabad. Pakistan has rolled out the red carpet for the Saudi royal in exchange for economic deals worth over US$20 billion. Photo courtesy Handout<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>ISLAMABAD, FEB 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) &#8211;  Saudi Arabia vowed to &#8220;de-escalate&#8221; rising tensions between Pakistan and India during a high-profile summit in Islamabad on Monday (Feb 18) as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman prepares to travel from Islamabad to New Delhi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The kingdom&#8217;s foreign minister spoke at a press conference in Islamabad as Pakistan recalled its envoy from Delhi for &#8220;consultations&#8221;, the latest development in a fresh diplomatic crisis between the nuclear-armed neighbours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Delhi has vowed to retaliate after a suicide blast which killed 41 Indian paramilitaries in Kashmir on Thursday, the deadliest attack in the disputed Himalayan region in decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The attack has sparked widespread calls in India for action against Pakistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Our objective is to try to de-escalate tensions between the two countries, neighbouring countries, and to see if there is a path forward to resolving those differences peacefully,&#8221; said Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The pledge came as the crown prince, widely known as &#8220;MBS&#8221;, prepared to head for India later Monday, at the conclusion of his two-day visit to Pakistan.Advertisement<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure><iframe width=\"300\" height=\"600\"><\/iframe><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Kashmir has been split between India and Pakistan since independence from Britain in 1947, with both the countries, which have fought three wars, claiming it in its entirety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Pakistan-based Islamist group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) claimed responsibility for Thursday&#8217;s attack, and the vehicle was driven by a known local militant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>India is garnering diplomatic support after the attack and has vowed to &#8220;isolate&#8221; Pakistan diplomatically in the international community, saying it has &#8220;incontrovertible evidence&#8221; of Islamabad&#8217;s role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pakistan has rejected the allegations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>WARM WELCOME<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After his arrival late Sunday, MBS signed&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.channelnewsasia.com\/news\/saudi-prince-starts-asia-tour-with-deals-to-invest-us-20b-in-11251832\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">US$20 billion in investment deals<\/a>&nbsp;with cash-strapped Islamabad and vowed to free thousands of Pakistani prisoners in Saudi custody.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Islamabad is facing a serious balance of payments crisis and hopes the huge deals signed over the two-day visit &#8211; seven separate agreements and memorandums of understanding &#8211; will boost its struggling economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pakistan has laid on a lavish welcome for the crown prince, including a 21-gun salute, fighter jet escort, and honour guard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He was also due to receive the country&#8217;s highest civilian award Monday, the Nishan-e-Pakistan (Order of Pakistan), before heading to India to meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>MBS is staging a three-country Asian tour just five months after the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a fierce critic, at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul ignited a diplomatic crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After India, he is expected to finish with two days in China on Thursday and Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Saudis, after initially denying any knowledge of Khashoggi&#8217;s disappearance, finally acknowledged that a team killed him inside the consulate, but described it as a rogue operation that did not involve the crown prince.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Turkey said Friday it has not yet revealed all the information it has uncovered in the case, which launched a global wave of revulsion and tarnished the crown prince&#8217;s reputation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Analysts have said the tour is part of a Gulf pivot to rising Asia as a growing oil market, but also a timely demonstration to the West that MBS is not an international pariah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pakistan has also been accused by its western neighbour Iran of harbouring militants who carried out an attack that killed 27 Revolutionary Guards last week. The Guards&#8217; commander has also vowed to make Pakistan pay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But Islamabad received a boost from Jubeir, who called Tehran a &#8220;chief sponsor of terrorism&#8221; during Monday&#8217;s live press conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have enjoyed a long alliance dating back to the founding of the Islamic republic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, Islamabad has also tried to walk a fine line by maintaining warm relations with its neighbour &#8211; and Saudi Arabia&#8217;s regional foe &#8211; Iran.<br>Read more at https:\/\/www.channelnewsasia.com\/news\/world\/saudi-vows-to&#8211;de-escalate&#8211;india-pakistan-tensions-after-kashmir-attack-11253476\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ISLAMABAD, FEB 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) &#8211; Saudi Arabia vowed to &#8220;de-escalate&#8221; rising tensions between Pakistan and India during a high-profile summit in Islamabad on Monday (Feb 18) as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman prepares to travel from Islamabad to New Delhi. The kingdom&#8217;s foreign minister spoke at a press conference in Islamabad as Pakistan recalled its [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":9295,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[296],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9294"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9294"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9294\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}