MOSCOW, February 19. /TASS/. Moscow expects that Islamabad and New Delhi will resolve bilateral tensions through dialogue, refraining from bringing them to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Russian Special Presidential Representative for SCO and the Foreign Ministry’s Special Envoy Bakhtiyer Khakimov told TASS on Tuesday.
"We hope that India and Pakistan will fulfill one of the most important conditions and obligations they undertook when joining the SCO, which stipulates that member countries should not bring bilateral differences to the SCO platform since it is multilateral," he pointed out.
According to him, Russia understands that multilateral platforms will inevitably be affected by bilateral conflicts but Moscow believes that this kind of activities are based on clear rules, which include "mutual respect and the need to search for compromise solutions, maintain dialogue and hold consultations" that are always helpful in finding mutually acceptable options.
"That said, we expect that all bilateral issues will be resolved through dialogue between New Delhi and Islamabad," Khakimov added.
On February 14, a suicide attacker rammed a vehicle filled with explosives into an Indian paramilitary convoy in Jammu and Kashmir, killing 45. The Jaish-e-Mohammed group, which aims at separating Kashmir from India and bringing it under Pakistan’s control, claimed responsibility for the attack.
A diplomatic crisis between India and Pakistan followed as New Delhi and Islamabad recalled their ambassadors for consultations. India said it had evidence proving Pakistan’s involvement in the attack, while Islamabad rejected this accusation.