WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States threw its support behind India on Tuesday (Feb 19) and pressed Pakistan to punish those behind a suicide attack in Kashmir that killed 40 Indian security personnel.
This comes after UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called on India and Pakistan to take immediate steps to defuse tensions and offered to help broker a solution if both sides agree.
"We have been in close communication with the government of India to express not only our condolences but our strong support for India as it confronts this terrorism," US deputy State Department spokesman Robert Palladino told reporters.
"We urge Pakistan to fully cooperate with the investigation into the attack and to punish anyone responsible."
Mr Palladino said the US has been in contact with both countries since a suicide attack on February 14 in Kashmir that killed 40 Indian security personnel, triggering counter-operations by Indian forces in the area
The attack was claimed by the Pakistan-based Islamist group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).
"We call on all countries to uphold their responsibilities pursuant to the United Nations Security Council resolutions to deny safe haven and support for terrorists," Mr Palladino said.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric meanwhile said they are "deeply concerned" at the increasing tensions between both India and Pakistan.
Mr Guterres "stresses the importance of both sides to exercise maximum restraint and take immediate steps" to de-escalate, while also offering to mediate "should both sides ask," said Mr Dujarric.
Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi appealed to Mr Guterres to step in to defuse tensions, in a letter seen by AFP.
"It is imperative to take steps for de-escalation. The United Nations must step in to defuse tensions," said the letter sent on Monday.
Although the attack was claimed by JeM, Mr Qureshi insisted that "attributing it to Pakistan even before investigations is absurd."
In response to the rising tensions, France, Britain and the US were considering a new push at the Security Council to place Masood Azhar, the leader of JeM, on the UN terror list, but faced opposition from China, diplomats said.
China has twice blocked - in 2016 and 2017 - attempts to put the JeM leader on the blacklist. The group itself was added to the terror list in 2001.
Kashmir has been split between India and Pakistan since independence from Britain in 1947. Both countries claim the former Himalayan kingdom in full and have fought two wars over it.
India has long accused Pakistan of harboring militants who launch attacks on its soil.
Pakistan's UN Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi met with Mr Guterres and with the president of the Security Council to appeal for action, warning that a flareup in Kashmir could undermine peace efforts in Afghanistan.
"The escalation in the subcontinent poses a threat to prospects for peace in Afghanistan," Ms Lodhi told AFP.
The US is holding talks with the Taliban on ending 17 years of war.
US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad's talks also involve Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the three countries that recognised the Taliban regime in Kabul before the US-led coalition toppled it following the September 11, 2001 attacks.
