Nuclear war is possible between India and Pakistan with Kashmir being a “flash point”, claimed a Pakistani diplomat. Wajid Shamsul Hasan also suggested US President Donald Trump should “mediate” talks between the two countries, which would hopefully lead to a “breakthrough”. The former High Commissioner of Pakistan to the UK told Sky News: “There is a possibility, and I say God forbid, of a nuclear war. A flash point, as it is.”
Mr Shamsul Hasan also said: “If President Trump mediates talks between the two countries there will probably be a breakthrough.
“Even Indian foreign minister Sushma Swaraj said the other day that we do not want escalation and Pakistan from day one has been opposed to an escalation.
“Pakistan wants India to talk with us, so that Pakistan and Indian sides agree to some sort of negotiations on Kashmir.
“It is Kashmir which is the cause of resistance by the Kashmiri people who have been granted right of settlement by the United Nations about 70 years ago.”
India and Pakistan edged towards all-out war yesterday over the disputed Himalayan territory of Kashmir.
The rival nuclear powers claimed to have shot down each other’s fighter jets and Pakistan paraded a captured Indian pilot on TV.
India called the move a “vulgar display” and “unprovoked act of aggression” that “violates all norms of international humanitarian law”.
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said the Indian pilot shot down and captured by Pakistani forces this week will be released on Friday.
Mr Khan told Parliament in Islamabad: “As a peace gesture we will be releasing him tomorrow.”
Earlier today Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi told Geo TV: “We are willing to return the captured Indian pilot if it leads to de-escalation.”
Mr Qureshi also said the Saudi foreign minister was expected to visit Pakistan with a special message from Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, who visited both Pakistan and India earlier this month.
Prime Minister Mr Khan has already called for talks with India to prevent the risk of a “miscalculation” between their nuclear-armed militaries.
But India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who faces a general election in a matter of months, told a rally of supporters that India would unite against its enemies earlier today.
In his first remarks since the downing of planes on Wednesday, he said: “The world is observing our collective will. It is necessary that we shouldn’t do anything that allows our enemy to raise a finger at us.”
Pakistan and India have fought three wars since independence from British colonial rule in 1947, two over Kashmir, and went to the brink of a fourth in 2002 after a Pakistani militant attack on India’s parliament.
Pakistan has shut its airspace, forcing commercial airlines to reroute.
Thai Airways International announced on Thursday that it had cancelled flights to Pakistan and Europe, which left thousands of passengers stranded in Bangkok.
Troops from India and Pakistan also exchanged fire for over an hour in the Poonch district at 6 a.m., according to a statement from the Indian army.
Lieutenant Colonel Devender Anand, a defence ministry spokesman, said: “The Indian army retaliated strongly and effectively.”