Do not escalate tensions with Pakistan, Kerry warns India

This is the first time high-level contact between the two countries after the Uri attack in Indian-Occupied Kashmir which has escalated tension between India and Pakistan. Earlier today, two Pakistani soldiers were martyred in unprovoked cross-border firing across the Line on Control.

The United States is keeping a close watch on the rising tensions and relations between the two country. India has withdrawn from the SAARC Summit schedules to be held in Islamabad in November, which has fallen into jeopardy after the pullout of other member states.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to review the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status awarded to Pakistan. MFN is a status or level of treatment accorded by one state to another in international trade, and is one of the cornerstones of trade laws of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had met John Kerry on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on 19th September, where  they discussed the situation in Kashmir and the atrocities and human rights violations by Indian forces. Sharif had called on Kerry to use his good offices to resolves bilateral disputes between the two countries.

US State Department deputy spokesman  Mark Toner had on Wednesday urged both countries to avoid issuing statements against each others, and urged on the resumption of dialogue between the two countries which can amicably benefit the entire region.

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest had also said that the US had continued to encourage India and Pakistan to find ways to resolve their differences, not through violence, but through diplomacy.