Pakistan has said it is considering returning a captured Indian pilot, as US President Donald Trump said American mediation was helping to defuse a crisis between the two nuclear powers a day after both downed enemy jets. The pilot, identified by Islamabad as Wing Commander Abhinandan, became the human face of the latest flare-up following the release of videos showing him being captured and later held in custody. "We are willing to return the captured Indian pilot if it leads to de-escalation," Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said. Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan has already called for talks with India to prevent the risk of a "miscalculation" between their nuclear-armed militaries. The Pakistani foreign minister's remarks came shortly after Trump said he expected "reasonably decent news" regarding the conflict between India and Pakistan. The US, China and other world powers have urged restraint from the two nations as tensions escalate following tit-for-tat airstrikes in the wake of a suicide car bombing that killed at least 40 Indian paramilitary police in Indian-controlled Kashmir on February 14. Indian and Pakistani troops traded fire along the contested border in Kashmir on Thursday, but speaking at a press conference, Trump said the US had been mediating between the two sides. "They have been going at it and we have been involved in trying to have them stop," Trump said in Hanoi, where he was attending a summit with North Korea's leader. "We have been in the middle trying to help them both out." Earlier on Thursday, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who faces a general election in a matter of months, told a rally of supporters that India would unite against its enemies. "The world is observing our collective will. It is necessary that we shouldn't do anything that allows our enemy to raise a finger at us," he said, in his first remarks since the downing of planes on Wednesday. Pakistan and India have fought three wars since independence from British colonial rule in 1947, two over Kashmir, and went to the brink of a fourth in 2002 after a Pakistani militant attack on India's parliament. Pakistan has shut its airspace, forcing commercial airlines to reroute. Thai Airways International announced on Thursday that it had cancelled flights to Pakistan and Europe, which left thousands of passengers stranded in Bangkok. As Trump was speaking, India said Pakistan had fired mortars into Indian-occupied territory. Troops from India and Pakistan also exchanged fire for over an hour in the Poonch district at 6 am, according to a statement from the Indian army. On Wednesday evening India's foreign ministry handed a dossier to Pakistan that it claimed detailed camps of the Pakistan-based militant group that carried out the February 14 attack. With a general election due in India by May, an upsurge in nationalism from any conflict with Pakistan could become a key factor, potentially favouring Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party. China, the European Union and other countries also called for restraint. Japan's foreign minister said on Thursday the country was concerned about the "deteriorating situation". The United States, Britain and France proposed the United Nations Security Council blacklist Masood Azhar, the head of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad, the group that claimed responsibility for the attack. China is likely to be oppose the move. Australian Associated Press
The Indian and Pakistan tit-for-tat air strikes have stirred up nationalist feelings on both sides.
Pakistan has said it is considering returning a captured Indian pilot, as US President Donald Trump said American mediation was helping to defuse a crisis between the two nuclear powers a day after both downed enemy jets.
The pilot, identified by Islamabad as Wing Commander Abhinandan, became the human face of the latest flare-up following the release of videos showing him being captured and later held in custody.
"We are willing to return the captured Indian pilot if it leads to de-escalation," Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said.
Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan has already called for talks with India to prevent the risk of a "miscalculation" between their nuclear-armed militaries.
The Pakistani foreign minister's remarks came shortly after Trump said he expected "reasonably decent news" regarding the conflict between India and Pakistan.
The US, China and other world powers have urged restraint from the two nations as tensions escalate following tit-for-tat airstrikes in the wake of a suicide car bombing that killed at least 40 Indian paramilitary police in Indian-controlled Kashmir on February 14.
Indian and Pakistani troops traded fire along the contested border in Kashmir on Thursday, but speaking at a press conference, Trump said the US had been mediating between the two sides.
"They have been going at it and we have been involved in trying to have them stop," Trump said in Hanoi, where he was attending a summit with North Korea's leader.
"We have been in the middle trying to help them both out."
Earlier on Thursday, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who faces a general election in a matter of months, told a rally of supporters that India would unite against its enemies.
"The world is observing our collective will. It is necessary that we shouldn't do anything that allows our enemy to raise a finger at us," he said, in his first remarks since the downing of planes on Wednesday.
Pakistan and India have fought three wars since independence from British colonial rule in 1947, two over Kashmir, and went to the brink of a fourth in 2002 after a Pakistani militant attack on India's parliament.
Pakistan has shut its airspace, forcing commercial airlines to reroute. Thai Airways International announced on Thursday that it had cancelled flights to Pakistan and Europe, which left thousands of passengers stranded in Bangkok.
As Trump was speaking, India said Pakistan had fired mortars into Indian-occupied territory.
Troops from India and Pakistan also exchanged fire for over an hour in the Poonch district at 6 am, according to a statement from the Indian army.
On Wednesday evening India's foreign ministry handed a dossier to Pakistan that it claimed detailed camps of the Pakistan-based militant group that carried out the February 14 attack.
With a general election due in India by May, an upsurge in nationalism from any conflict with Pakistan could become a key factor, potentially favouring Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.
China, the European Union and other countries also called for restraint. Japan's foreign minister said on Thursday the country was concerned about the "deteriorating situation".
The United States, Britain and France proposed the United Nations Security Council blacklist Masood Azhar, the head of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad, the group that claimed responsibility for the attack.
