RAMALLAH, Friday, March 01, 2019 (WAFA) – President Mahmoud Abbas Thursday urged India and Pakistan to exercise restraint and avoid escalation.

Abbas urged India and Pakistan to spare no effort to contain the situation and avoid escalation in order to maintain Indian-Pakistani good-neighborly relations in accordance with the interests of both peoples and the world.

Rivals India and Pakistan carried out airstrikes against each other for the first time since 1971, raising fears of escalating confrontation between the two nuclear powers.

Abbas expressed his hopes that the Indian and Pakistani leaderships would defuse the current crisis and affirmed Palestine’s readiness to exert joint efforts with all parties to maintain stability and clam between the two countries, so as to serve the interests of both the Indian and Pakistani peoples and reinforce security and stability in the region and throughout the world.

He expressed his and the Palestinian people’s appreciation for the Indian and Pakistani leaderships and peoples for their positions in support of the just question of Palestine and stressed Palestine’s longstanding historical relations with both countries in a manner that would serve common interests.

K.F.