Pakistan reaffirms commitment to promote safe, dignified conditions for laborers on May Day

ISLAMABAD: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio this week spoke to Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, urging his administration to cooperate in investigating an Apr. 22 attack in Indian-administered Kashmir and to re-establish direct communications with New Delhi amid soaring bilateral tensions.
Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif last week said Islamabad is willing to cooperate with “any investigation which is conducted by international inspectors” of the Apr. 22 attack in Pahalgam, a popular tourist resort in Indian-administered Kashmir, in which 26 tourists were killed. 
India has said there were Pakistani elements to the attack but Islamabad has denied any involvement. Fears of a wider conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbors breaking out loom as India has vowed to punish the backers of the Kashmir attack. Pakistan, on the other hand, has vowed a “strong” response to any military strike. 
Rubio spoke to PM Sharif on Wednesday, urging the need to condemn the Pahalgam attack, the US State Department said the same day. 
“The Secretary urged Pakistani officials’ cooperation in investigating this unconscionable attack,” the State Department said. “He also encouraged Pakistan to work with India to de-escalate tensions, re-establish direct communications, and maintain peace and security in South Asia.”
It added that both leaders reaffirmed their continued commitment to “holding terrorists accountable for their heinous acts of violence.”
According to Sharif’s office, the Pakistani premier asked Washington to impress upon India to “act responsibly” and “dial down the rhetoric.”
“He [Sharif] categorically rejected Indian attempts to link Pakistan to the incident and pointed to his call for a transparent, credible, and neutral investigation to bring out the facts,” the PMO said. 
Sharif told Rubio that India’s recent behavior is “deeply disappointing and worrisome,” saying it would only serve to distract Pakistan from its ongoing efforts to defeat militants, particularly those based in Afghanistan. 
Rubio also spoke to India’s External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on Wednesday, expressing sorrow for the loss of lives in the Apr. 22 attack. 
He also encouraged India to work with Pakistan to de-escalate tensions and maintain peace and security in South Asia, the State Department said. 
Several countries such as China, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkiye and the UK have also called upon both India and Pakistan to exercise restraint and avoid a military confrontation.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s government has appointed the chief of its premium intelligence agency, Lt. Gen. Asim Malik, as the National Security Adviser, an official notification said this week amid fears of a military conflict breaking out between Pakistan and India.
Tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbors surged after India blamed Pakistan for being involved in the Apr. 22 militant attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir. India suspended a decades-old water-sharing treaty with Pakistan, suspended visas for its nationals and took a raft of other measures after blaming Islamabad for “cross-border terrorism.” Pakistan denied involvement, took tit-for-tat measures and warned India of a “strong” response if it carried out a military strike.
Malik was picked to head the Inter-Services Intelligence Agency (ISI), the country’s premium intelligence agency, in September last year. The ISI is believed to have a hidden role in making many of the nuclear-armed nation’s policies, including those related to Afghanistan and India. The threat to Pakistan from neighboring India has been a main preoccupation of the ISI through the decades.
“Lt. Gen. Muhammad Asim Malik DG (I), shall hold the additional charge of the National Security Adviser, with immediate effect,” a notification by the Cabinet Division issued on Apr. 29, read.
The army is arguably the most influential institution in Pakistan, with the military having ruled the country for about half of its 77-year history since independence from Britain and enjoying extensive powers even under civilian administrations.
Fears of a military confrontation between India and Pakistan were renewed on Wednesday after the latter’s state television reported that Pakistan’s army had destroyed several Indian posts after they resorted to “unprovoked” firing in the Kayani and Mandal sectors of the Line of Control (LoC).
The LoC runs 742km (460 miles) dividing the parts of Kashmir governed by India and Pakistan, and acts as part of the de facto border between the two countries. India and Pakistan both claim the disputed Himalayan Kashmir territory in full but administer only parts of it.
Earlier on Wednesday, the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan reported that a “timely” response by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) had “forced” four Indian Rafale jets to retreat after payrolling near the two nations’ de facto border.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke to Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday to de-escalate Islamabad’s tensions with New Delhi and avoid a military confrontation with India. Several countries such as China, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkiye and the UK have done the same recently.