US should stand ready to assist in resolving India-Pak crisis: Senator

An influential American Senator said Wednesday the Trump administration should stand ready to assist nuclear-armed neighbours India and Pakistan in resolving the ongoing crisis peacefully between the two countries.

Tensions between India and Pakistan rose following the February 14 terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district in which 40 CRPF soldiers were killed. Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror group claimed responsibility for the attack.

"The heightening tensions between Pakistan and India are deeply alarming. These two nuclear-armed states must commit to resolving this crisis peacefully, and the US should stand ready to assist," Senator Edward Markey said in a tweet.

"We must not allow conventional tensions to go nuclear," Markey said amidst increased tension between the two South Asian neighbors.

Following the Pulwama terror attack, India bombed and destroyed JeM's biggest training camp in Balakot in Pakistan's restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, about 80-km from the Line of Control (LoC) early Tuesday, killing a "very large number" of terrorists, trainers and senior commanders.

On Wednesday, Pakistan claimed it shot down two Indian fighter jets over Pakistani air space and arrested a pilot.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan tried to defuse the tension by saying war is futile and can lead to unknown consequences while making an oblique reference to the nuclear weapons that both countries possess.