SINGAPORE: Pakistan and India are close to reducing the troop build up along their border to levels before conflict erupted between the nuclear-armed neighbors this month, a top Pakistani military official told Reuters on Friday, although he warned the crisis had increased the risk of escalation in the future.

Both sides used fighter jets, missiles, drones and artillery in four days of clashes, their worst fighting in decades, before a ceasefire was announced.

The spark for the latest fighting between the old enemies was an April 22 attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that killed 26 people, most of them tourists. New Delhi blamed the incident on “terrorists” backed by Pakistan, a charge denied by Islamabad.

On May 7, India launched missiles at what it said were “terrorist infrastructure” sites across the border and as Pakistan responded with its own attacks, both countries built up additional forces along the frontier.

General Sahir Shamshad Mirza, Pakistan’s chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, said the two militaries had started the process of drawing down troop levels.

“We have almost come back to the pre-22nd April situation... we are approaching that, or we must have approached that by now,” said Mirza, the most senior Pakistani military official to speak publicly since the conflict.

India’s ministry of defense and the office of the Indian chief of defense staff did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment on the remarks by Mirza.

Mirza, who is in Singapore to attend the Shangri-La Dialogue forum, said while there was no move toward nuclear weapons during this conflict, it was a dangerous situation.

“Nothing happened this time,” he said. “But you can’t rule out any strategic miscalculation at any time, because when the crisis is on, the responses are different.”

He also said the risk of escalation in the future had increased since the fighting this time was not limited to the disputed territory of Kashmir, the scenic region in the Himalayas that both nations rule in part but claim in full. The two sides attacked military installations in their mainlands but neither has acknowledged any serious damage.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned Pakistan this month that New Delhi would target “terrorist hideouts” across the border again if there were new attacks on India.

‘DANGEROUS TREND’

The two countries have fought three major wars, two of them over Kashmir, and numerous armed skirmishes since both were born out of British colonial India in 1947.

New Delhi blames Pakistan for an insurgency in India-administered part of Kashmir that began in 1989 and has killed tens of thousands. Pakistan says it provides only moral, political and diplomatic support to Kashmiris seeking self-determination.

“This (conflict) lowers the threshold between two countries who are contiguous nuclear powers...in the future, it will not be restricted to the disputed territory. It would come down to (the) whole of India and (the) whole of Pakistan,” Mirza said. “This is a very dangerous trend.”

Reuters has reported that the rapid escalation of hostilities ended in part because of behind-the-scenes diplomacy involving the US, India and Pakistan, and the key role played by Washington in brokering peace. India has denied any third-party role in the ceasefire and said that any engagement between India and Pakistan has to be bilateral.

But Mirza warned that international mediation might be difficult in the future because of a lack of crisis management mechanisms between the countries.

“The time window for the international community to intervene would now be very less, and I would say that damage and destruction may take place even before that time window is exploited by the international community,” he said.

Pakistan was open to dialogue, he added, but beyond a crisis hotline between the directors general of military operations and some hotlines at the tactical level on the border, there was no other communication between the two countries.

India’s foreign ministry spokesperson said on Thursday “talks and terror don’t go together” in response to a question on the possibility of dialogue with Pakistan.

Mirza said there were no backchannel discussions, or informal talks, to ease tensions. He also said he had no plans to meet General Anil Chauhan, India’s chief of defense staff, who is also in Singapore for the Shangri-La forum.

“These issues can only be resolved by dialogue and consultations, on the table. They cannot be resolved on the battlefield,” Mirza said.

ISLAMABAD: Dozens of countries, including Pakistan, on Friday joined China in establishing a global mediation-based dispute resolution group, with Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar hoping to play an “active” role in the mission.

Dar was among representatives of more than 30 countries, from Indonesia to Belarus to Cuba, who signed the Convention on the Establishment of the International Organization for Mediation (IOMed) in Hong Kong to become founding members of the global organization.

Beijing has touted the organization as the world’s first intergovernmental legal body for resolving disputes through mediation, saying it will be an important mechanism in safeguarding the principles of the United Nations charter. It also positioned Hong Kong as an international legal and dispute resolution services center in Asia.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Dar said Pakistan values China’s steadfast support for multilateral efforts, which aim to bridge East and West, and North and South, bringing together developed and developing countries to foster a global community with a shared future.

“Pakistan and China have always shared the view that multilateralism is the centerpiece for international peace, stability, and development,” he said.

“​The creation of IOMed today reaffirms this ideal, offering new opportunities and fresh hopes to build a more inclusive, more just and more equitable world. Pakistan will continue to be an active voice in this noble mission.”

The new body, headquartered in Hong Kong, aims to help promote the amicable resolution of international disputes and build more harmonious global relations. The support of developing countries signaled Beijing’s rising influence in the global south amid heightened geopolitical tensions, partly exacerbated by US President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs.

Wang said China has long advocated for handling differences with a spirit of mutual understanding and consensus-building through dialogue, while aiming to provide “Chinese wisdom” for resolving conflicts between nations.

“The establishment of the International Organization for Mediation helps to move beyond the zero-sum mindset of ‘you lose and I win,’” he said.

Hong Kong leader John Lee said the organization could begin its work as early as the end of this year. The ceremony was attended by representatives from some 50 other countries and about 20 organizations, including the United Nations.

Yueming Yan, a law professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said the new organization is a complementary mechanism to existing institutions such as the International Court of Justice and the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague.

“While the ICJ and PCA focus on adjudication and arbitration, IOMed introduces a structured, institutionalized form of alternative dispute resolution — namely, mediation — on a global scale,” she said.

Although many details about the new body are yet to be clarified, it could open the door for greater synergy between formal litigation or arbitration and more flexible methods like mediation, she said.

Shahla Ali, a law professor at the University of Hong Kong, said the International Organization for Mediation would have the capacity to mediate disputes between states, between a state and a national of another state, or in international commercial disputes.

“Conventions can provide opportunities to experiment with new approaches,” she said, noting rising interest in mediation globally as a means to resolve investor-state disputes.

Dar said peace and security as well as global prosperity can be promoted and preserved through strict adherence to the principles of the UN Charter, faithful implementation of UN Security Council resolutions as well as international law.

“Pakistan has established an International Mediation and Arbitration Center (IMAC) to promote commercial and investment dispute resolution and judicial efficiency. We look forward to collaborating with the Secretariat of IOMed and IMAC of Pakistan,” he added.​

— With input from AP