Pakistan welcomes international efforts to defuse tension with India

Islamabad: Pakistan Thursday welcomed efforts by international community to defuse tension between Pakistan and India. Foreign Office spokesperson Dr Mohammad Faisal said that Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has spoken to his counterparts from 20 countries, including Iran, on recent tensions with India. “We support any kind of mediatory efforts to defuse tension with India but our diplomacy is deliberate and carefully measured,” he said. The spokesman added Pakistan wishes to de-escalate the situation and is ready to engage in dialogue. “Pakistan is not looking towards any country for its defense, but we have very good detailed interaction with our friends in international community especially with Islamic world to whom we have decade old ties” he said. Earlier Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad-Javad Zarif in a phone conversation with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi had urged Islamabad and New Delhi to show self-restraint following the escalation of tension between the two states.