UK ‘deeply concerned’ over rising Indo-Pak tension, says PM May

In an official statement, British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Wednesday that the United Kingdom is ‘deeply concerned’ over the rising tensions in India and Pakistan.

The UK PM’s official statements comes after the Pakistan Air Force shot down two Indian aircraft inside its air space and captured one of the Indian airforce pilots.

“The UK is deeply concerned about rising tensions between India and Pakistan and urgently calls for restraint on both sides to avoid further escalation,” said May.

“We are in regular contact with both countries, urging dialogue and diplomatic solutions to ensure regional stability. We are working closely with international partners including through the United Nations Security Council to de-escalate tensions,” stated the official statement quoting UK PM Theresa May.

Earlier today, In an official address Prime Minister Imran Khan once again invited India for talks and urged better sense should prevail.

After chairing a meeting of the National Command Authority, the premier said, "I wanted to take you into confidence regarding the situation arising since yesterday. We offered India that we are ready to cooperate with them in any kind of investigation after the Pulwama attack."

"I want to now address India and say let sanity prevail. Let’s think sensibly. All wars in the world have been started on miscalculations on the time and the human cost of war. This was the same with the First World War, with the Second World War, the war on terror, the Vietnam War. The history of the world shows us wars have always been miscalculation," PM Imran said.

UK FO official to speak to Pakistan, India envoys

Britain’s junior Foreign Office minister Mark Field said he will speak with Indian and Pakistani envoys on Wednesday to urge their countries to exercise restraint after both sides said they shot down each other’s fighter jets.

Both countries have ordered air strikes over the last two days, the first time in history that two nuclear-armed powers have done so, while ground forces have exchanged fire in more than a dozen locations.

“I shall be speaking to both the Indian and Pakistani High Commissioners this afternoon and will continue to press for the importance of restraint,” Field said in parliament.