Threat of further escalation between India, Pakistan over: Government assessment

ISLAMABAD: The threat of further escalation between India and Pakistan after the Pulwama terror attack is over, an internal assessment of the Pakistan government has concluded.

The Express Tribune reported that the assessment was shared by a senior official on Monday in a background briefing on the current state of relations between the two neighbouring countries.

"There is a visible de-escalation in tension," the official said.


The official told journalists that Pakistan did not foresee any further "aggressive action" from India, the report said.

Tensions flared up between India and Pakistan after a suicide bomber of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Muhammed (JeM) killed 40 CRPF personnel in Kashmir's Pulwama district on February 14.

Amid mounting outrage, the Indian Air Force carried out a counter-terror operation, hitting the biggest JeM training camp in Balakot, deep inside Pakistan on February 26.

The next day, Pakistan Air Force retaliated and downed a MiG-21 in an aerial combat and captured Indian pilot, who was handed over to India on March 1.

There was fear that India may launch more strikes or escalate the situation to end the crisis on a high note, the paper said.

When asked whether Pakistan feared another possible ‘misadventure' by India before the elections in the country, the official confidently replied: "There is no room for such aggressive action from India".

The upbeat assessment of the government is apparently linked to hectic diplomacy involving many regional and international players, seeking de-escalation in tensions between the two countries, the paper said.

In a first sign of easing of tensions, Pakistani and Indian high commissioners resumed their diplomatic work in Islamabad and New Delhi on Saturday.

Both countries called back their envoys for consultations soon after the Pulwama attack.

India handed over to Pakistan a dossier on "specific details" of involvement of the JeM in the attack.