Senator Sherry Rehman said that India has time and again walked away from any discussion to defuse the situation, knowing full well that “even world wars end on the negotiation table”.

She said that it would have been better to move forward with dialogue and without resorting to lethal arms and raising the cost of war, adding that escalation was in nobody’s interest.

“However, any discussion to de-escalate has been viewed as weakness by India,” she told TRTWorld.