India-Pakistan ties: EU’s Mogherini speaks to Pakistan Foreign Minister

Brussels, Feb 25 (IANS) Federica Mogherini, the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs, spoke to Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, stressing on the "urgency to de-escalate" the ongoing tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad following the February 14 Pulwama attack that killed 40 CRPF troopers.

Mogherini, who is also the Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission, had a telephonic conversation with Shah on Sunday.

"The High Representative stressed the urgency to de-escalate the situation and confirmed that the European Union is also in contact with Indian counterparts," an official statement said here.

"The European Union's policy has always been to promote a dialogue between India and Pakistan to sort out differences."

While appreciating Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's "early commitment to reach out to India", Mogherini also "highlighted the need to continue addressing terrorism, including clear and sustained actions targeting not only all UN-listed transnational terrorist groups but also individuals claiming responsibility for such attacks", the statement added.

The development comes after Khan on Sunday assured his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi that he stood by his words, saying that if New Delhi provided Islamabad with "actionable intelligence" regarding the Pulwama attack, "we will immediately act".

Khan said Modi should "give peace a chance".

His remark was in response to Modi saying on Saturday that the time had come to test if the Pakistan Prime Minister was a man of his word.

The Pulwama attack was claimed by the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad.