India-Pakistan: Escalation

Ayoub Khan Excerpts

Wednesday 7th May 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Falconer]

As I said in the previous answer, there is clearly a considerable amount of debate about the facts of what has happened just in the last few hours. I do not wish to focus, and it would indeed be inappropriate for the UK to speculate, on those exact facts. We need to focus from this House on de-escalating the risks to regional stability that we see today.

[Ayoub Khan (Birmingham Perry Barr) (Ind)]

There is enormous distrust between both nations, which stems from the dispute over Kashmir. Immediately after those terrorist events in India last month, India was quick off the mark to blame Pakistan. In response, Pakistan made it plain that it had nothing to do with it. Pakistan’s position is, how can armed terrorists travel 230 km over devastating terrain by foot, assassinate people and then return by foot into Pakistan in an area that is the most militarised zone on this planet? It is somewhat incredulous that blame was put on Pakistan virtually within an hour of this atrocity. Will the Minister commit to leveraging our diplomatic influence to encourage an environment that is conducive to open dialogue? Does he agree that there is an ever-growing imperative to normalise relations and address underlying issues, from territorial disputes to acts of violence, to have peaceful negotiations and mutual understanding?

[Mr Falconer]

The hon. Member is right to finish his remarks focusing on the importance of direct dialogue, which I of course support. I will not seek to adjudicate from this Dispatch Box on the competing claims about the facts.