Pakistan's ambassador in Moscow seeks Russia's help in de-escalating crisis with India
In a bid to de-escalate rising tensions with India following the deadly
terrorist attack in Pahalgam
on April 22, Pakistan's envoy in Moscow has turned to Russia for diplomatic intervention.
In an upcoming interview with Russia's TASS news agency, Pakistan's ambassador to Moscow,
Mohammad Khalid Jamali
, said Islamabad hopes Moscow can play a mediating role, invoking Russia's historical involvement during past Indo-Pak conflicts. Citing Tashkent 1966, Jamali noted that Russia shares a privileged strategic partnership with India while maintaining very good relations with Pakistan, positioning it as a credible interlocutor.
The appeal comes amid a sharp deterioration in India-Pakistan ties after the
Pahalgam terror attack
, which killed 26 people, most of them tourists.
Meanwhile, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov spoke with external affairs minister S Jaishankar on Friday, urging both sides to de-escalate in line with established bilateral frameworks. Lavrov referred to the 1972
Simla Accord
and the 1999
Lahore Declaration
.
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Hindustan Times
32 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Ukrainian woman searches for husband lost in action two years ago
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India Today
33 minutes ago
- India Today
Five reasons why Indian sub-continent has changed post Operation Sindoor
Over a month ago, Indian jets and ground-based missile launchers inflicted the most damage on Pakistan since the 1971 Indo-Pak war. India attacked terrorist infrastructure and wrecked Pakistani airbases and radars in a swift series of retaliatory air and ground strikes. India has held the Indus Water Treaty in abeyance for the first time since its 1960 reasons why the ongoing Operation Sindoor is arguably India's greatest strategic move since the 1998 Pokharan-2 nuclear ENDS PAKISTAN'S NUCLEAR BLACKMAILPakistan covertly acquired nuclear weapons capability in the 1980s before India did. India tested a nuclear device in 1974 but that device was not a weapon as in, in a form that could be delivered on to target. It is one of the sub-continent conundrums that while India tested first, it began weaponising later, only in the late 1980s after intelligence suggested that the Pakistani nuclear weapons programme was racing ahead. When the Pakistan military acquired nuclear weapons capability in the 1980s, it changed its mindset. The Pakistan Army believed that India would not punish it for terror attacks using its conventional military superiority because it feared Pakistan would use nuclear weapons. This belief was reinforced when multiple terror strikes on Mumbai, in 1993, 2006 and 2008 went unpunished. In fact, General Musharaff launched the Kargil operation just six months after the 1998 Indian and Pakistani nuclear believed India would not use its army to strike at Pakistan. His point was reinforced by Operation Parakram in 2001-02 when India responded to the attack on India's parliament by deploying its entire military along the borders, but withdrew them six months later. This standoff led to what scholars like Commodore C Uday Bhaskar have called 'Nuclear Weapons Enabled Terrorism' or NWET. This policy has now seems to have reached the end of its life. 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When the Afghan War ended, Pakistan used the leftover infrastructure of Operation Cyclone warehouses filled with weapons and tens of thousands of radicalised mujahideen, to wage war against India, first in Punjab, and later in Jammu and Kashmir. All along, the Pakistan Army kept up the pretence of violent groups like the LeT and Jaish-e-Mohammed being 'non-state actors', over whom the state had no control when terrorist groups like the TTP turned against it, Pakistan used the attacks to play the victim card. Each time India attempted to point at Pakistan's state sponsorship of terror, Islamabad maintained it was also a victim of terrorism. Pakistan used this stratagem to deceive the West in the two-decade War on Terror in Afghanistan (2001-2021). It deceived the US that it was with them while it was covertly training and sheltering the Taliban. 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden was hidden in a safehouse just a kilometre away from the Pakistan Military Academy, India, the mask fell off on April 16, 2025. On that day, army chief General Asim Munir who delivered a highly provocative and communal speech advocating the Two Nation Theory. On April 22, 26 Indian tourists and one Nepali national were massacred by Pakistani terrorists. Post Operation Sindoor, the Pakistan army has accorded military funerals to dead terrorists. Terrorist leaders have openly appeared on platforms with politicians. The mask of deniability has fallen off. The blame for all future terror strikes will be laid squarely at the doorstep of the Pakistan RAISES PAKISTAN'S TERROR SPONSORSHIP COSTSTerrorism was a low-cost option for the Pakistan Army. 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Terror sponsorship is no longer a low-cost Operation Sindoor end Pakistan-sponsored terrorism ? It is unlikely. This is because the Pakistan Army defines victory very differently, as the scholar C Christine Fair once for the Pakistan Army is not when it loses half its country and its military infrastructure is wrecked. Defeat for the Pakistan Army is only when it stops Pakistan Army is actually a gigantic business corporation. The military runs a business empire, construction companies, housing corporations, security agencies and logistics firms which benefit a key military elite. This business empire is estimated at over $100 billion. So deeply entrenched is this autonomous state within a state that there's actually a term for it, Milbus or Military Business, coined by Pakistani scholar Ayesha Siddiqa. The Pakistan Army chief is also the MD and CEO of this corporation. 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Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
'One of biggest in war': Russia unleashes drone, missile barrage on Ukraine; Zelenskyy urges global action
Russia launched attack on Ukraine (Image Credit: Zelenskyy's X account) Russia launched over 300 drones and 7 missiles, 2 of which were North Korean-made ballistic missiles, at Ukraine overnight, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed. In the overnight attack, Russia launched a large drone attack on Ukraine, targeting Kyiv and causing damage to a maternity facility in Odesa's southern port, according to regional authorities' reports on Tuesday. Demanding swift action from the world, Zelenskyy said that it is vital that the response to the Russian attacks should not be silence from the world. "Russian missile and Shahed strikes drown out the efforts of the United States and others around the world to force Russia into peace. For yet another night, instead of a ceasefire, there were massive strikes with Shahed drones, cruise and ballistic missiles. Today was one of the largest attacks on Kyiv. Odesa, Dnipro region, and Chernihiv region were also targeted," Zelenskyy said in a post on X. He claimed that Russia used 315 drones in the attack, including 250 Shaheds, and 7 missiles, 2 of which were North Korean-made ballistic missiles. According to him, a maternity hospital in desa als became a Russian target. "It is vital that the response to this and other similar Russian attacks is not silence from the world, but concrete action. Action from America, which has the power to force Russia into peace. Action from Europe, which has no alternative but to be strong. Action from others around the world who called for diplomacy and an end to the war – and whom Russia has ignored. There must be strong pressure for the sake of peace," he added. The overnight strikes came after Russia launched the largest drone attack against Ukraine on Monday, part of heightened military activities that Moscow claims are in response to Ukraine's recent bold incursions into Russian territory, Reuters reported. In the early hours of Tuesday, medical teams responded to emergencies in four Kyiv districts, including the historic Podil area, as reported by Mayor Vitali Klitschko via Telegram.
