NEW DELHI, March 3: Russia and China propose to jointly help launch a political dialogue between India and Pakistan to ease tension in South Asia, the Press Trust of India said on Sunday.

The news agency said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov had discussed the ongoing military stand-off between New Delhi and Islamabad with his Chinese counterpart Liu Guchang at the Sino-Russian Foreign Ministry level consultations which concluded in Beijing on Thursday.

“They agreed to pool efforts in order to facilitate resumption of political dialogue between the two south Asian neighbours,” PTI quoted Russian Itar-Tass news agency as saying.

It said the two ministers also did not rule out the use of Shanghai co-operation organization for a fresh initiative “as both India and Pakistan have close relations with most of its six member states”.

Islamabad has often urged Moscow for mediation in resolving its differences with New Delhi, the latest by Pakistani Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar in a phone call to Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov last week, PTI said.