Russia pledges ‘full support’ to India; ‘Step back from the brink’, UN chief urges restraint amid soaring tensions

New Delhi: Moscow on Monday pledged its “full support” to New Delhi in the fight against terrorism, even as Iran stepped up its effort to help de-escalate tension between India and Pakistan in the wake of the carnage in Jammu and Kashmir. Meanwhile, the United Nations called for “maximum restraint” from the two neighbouring nations ahead of a meeting of an emergency meeting of the Security Council.

Japanese Defence Minister Gen Nakatani did the same during his bilateral talk with his Indian counterpart, Rajnath Singh.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi received a call from Russian President Vladimir Putin, who extended his “sincere condolences” over the death of 26 people in the “barbaric terrorist attack” at Baisaran near Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir on April 22.

“He (Putin) conveyed deepest condolences on the loss of innocent lives and expressed full support to India in the fight against terrorism. He emphasised that the perpetrators of the heinous attack and their supporters must be brought to justice,” Randhir Jaiswal, the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, posted on X after the phone call between the two leaders.

Both sides underscored the need for an uncompromising fight against terrorism in all its manifestations, according to a readout issued by Moscow’s diplomatic mission in New Delhi.

During his talk with Gen Nakatani, Rajnath condemned Pakistan’s state policy of cross-border terrorism against India, perpetrated through state and non-state actors, according to a statement issued by the Defence Ministry.

Observing that such attacks destabilise regional peace and security, he advocated for a unified stand against terrorism and the state-sponsored actions that perpetuate it.

Nakatani offered his nation’s full support to India.

Tokyo is the second Quad partner backing India to fight terrorism after the US Secretary of Defence Peter Hegseth last week spoke to Rajnath and supported India’s right to defend itself for terror attacks.

“Targeting civilians is unacceptable – and those responsible must be brought to justice through credible and lawful means,” UN Secretary General António Guterres said in New York on Monday, condemning the terrorist attack and expressing concern over deteriorating relations between the two South Asian neighbours. “It is also essential – especially at this critical hour – to avoid a military confrontation that could easily spin out of control,” Guterres said ahead of a meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss the issue of escalating tension between India and Pakistan.

Modi, on April 29, gave the armed forces of India “operational freedom” to respond to the attack, which was carried out by the terrorists owing allegiance to The Resistance Force, an offshoot of Lashkar-e-Tayyiba based in Pakistan.

Putin called Modi after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday spoke to his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, who called for settling disagreements between New Delhi and Islamabad bilaterally through political and diplomatic means as per the provisions of the Simla Agreement of 1972 and the Lahore Declaration of 1999.

Lavrov also had a phone call with Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Sunday, and conveyed Moscow’s willingness to contribute to efforts to diffuse the tension that escalated between the two South Asian nations in the wake of the recent carnage in J&K.

The 1972 Simla Agreement between India and Pakistan and the 1999 Lahore Declaration had left no scope for the UN or any other third party to play any role in resolving the “outstanding issues” between the two South Asian neighbours.

Islamabad, however, recently put in abeyance the Simla Agreement and all other bilateral pacts between India and Pakistan as a retaliatory measure after New Delhi suspended the Indus Water Treaty, 1960, in response to the terrorist attack.

Putin called Modi even as the United States Vice President J D Vance recently urged India to make sure that its response to the terrorist attack does not lead to a broader regional conflict. He also asked Pakistan to cooperate with India to bring the terrorists to justice.

China, earlier this week, asked India and Pakistan to exercise restraint.

“The situation in the region is very important for Iran, and we emphasise easing tensions while calling on all parties to exercise restraint and prevent the escalation of the situation,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said ahead of his meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad on Monday. Araghchi is likely to visit New Delhi later this week.

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian also had phone calls with the prime ministers of India and Pakistan earlier and offered the Persian Gulf nation’s support to any effort to de-escalate tension between the two South Asian neighbours and to promote regional peace and stability.

New Delhi alleged “cross-border linkages” of the carnage as early as on April 23 and responded to it, by putting in abeyance 65-year-old India-Pakistan Indus Water Treaty (IWT), shutting down the Integrated Check Post at Attari-Wagah border between the two countries, revoking visas issued to citizens of Pakistan to visit India, and further downgrading bilateral diplomatic relations. New Delhi also expelled Pakistan’s three military officers posted as diplomats at its high commission in the capital of India.

Islamabad put in abeyance all bilateral pacts between Pakistan and India, apart from initiating other retaliatory measures to respond to New Delhi’s moves. They stopped allowing aircraft of India and Pakistan to fly through each other’s airspace and barred each other’s ships from docking at each other’s ports.