ISLAMABAD: King Abdullah II of Jordan on Friday made a phone call to Prime Minister Imran Khan and conveyed his concern over the escalating situation between Pakistan and India.

He congratulated the prime minister on his “statesman-like approach” towards handling this difficult situation. He also offered Jordan’s mediation to help de-escalate the crisis.

Over the course of the conversation, Prime Minister Khan briefed King Abdullah about initiatives taken by Pakistan to maintain peace between the two sides for the sake of the people as well as the region at large.

He reiterated that the core issue between the two countries remained the issue of Kashmir that needed to be resolved as per the United Nations resolutions.

The premier impressed upon the king his government’s agenda to promote peace and prosperity through poverty alleviation. “However, the war hysteria unleashed in India [is] threatening the peace of the region,” Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s official Twitter account quoted the prime minister as saying.

The prime minister said his government agenda was to promote peace and prosperity for the people of Pakistan through poverty alleviation and social welfare programs.

Imran briefs Abdullah about initiatives taken by Pakistan to maintain peace

The prime minister thanked King Abdullah for his offer of mediation and also invited him to visit Pakistan at his earliest convenience.

A day earlier, Russia had said it is ready to mediate between India and Pakistan to try to calm tensions between the two nuclear powers.

Russian President Vladimir Putin told Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a phone call that he hopes for a quick settlement of the crisis between New Delhi and Islamabad, the Kremlin said in a statement.

In response to the development, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that he accepted Russia’s offer to act as a mediator between the two countries.

“Lavrov has offered to mediate. I don’t know about India but I want to say this to Russia that Pakistan is ready to come to the table and de-escalate tensions,” said the foreign minister.

Published in Dawn, March 2nd, 2019