Amid strain ties, India-Pakistan delegations discuss relations between the countries

Amid strain ties between the two countries in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack, Pakistan's High Commissioner to India Sohail Mahmood on Friday met Prime Minister Imran Khan and took his advice on Indo-Pak relations before returning to his post in New Delhi on Saturday. Mehmood is scheduled to return to New Delhi after he was called back to Islamabad for consultations following flare-up of tensions between the two neighbours in the wake of the Pulwama terror attack. The envoy took Prime Minister Khan's advice on Pak-India relations before he returned to his post in New Delhi, the Foreign Office said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria, who was also called to New Delhi for consultations in the wake of the attack, is scheduled to reach Islamabad on Saturday having completed his consultations in the national capital.

"High Commissioner of India to Pakistan, Ajay Bisaria, is returning to Islamabad after having completed his consultations in India. He will reach Islamabad on 9 March 2019 and resume his duties," MEA Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said in response to a media query regarding Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan's return to Islamabad.

Talking about the latest developments, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said the delegation-level visits scheduled between New Delhi and Islamabad will de-escalate tensions between the two neighbours.

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Tensions between India and Pakistan escalated after a suicide bomber of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) killed 42 CRPF personnel and injured dozens of others in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on February 14.

India launched a counter-terror operation in Balakot on February 26. The next day, Pakistan Air Force (PAF) retaliated and downed a MiG-21 in aerial combat and captured its pilot Abhinandan Varthaman, who was later handed over to India on March 1 as "a gesture of peace" and the first step towards negotiation between the countries.

Amid this escalating tension between the countries, the United States on Friday asked Islamabad to take "sustained and irreversible" actions against terrorist groups operating from its territory to prevent future attacks and promote regional stability.

China, on the other hand, asked the countries to quickly turn the page and convert the present tensions into an opportunity for long term improvement in their relations. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday said post-Wuhan summit between President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, China wants to develop closer ties with India and forge ahead like the "Yangtze and Ganges" rivers despite Beijing's all-weather ties with Pakistan.