ISLAMABAD: The United States on Monday urged both Pakistan and India not to escalate tensions following a verbal altercation that broke out in the wake of a media report claiming that New Delhi ordered extraterritorial assassinations in Pakistan.

Last week, Pakistan strongly reacted to the report published by The Guardian, a British newspaper, saying that India’s top spy agency, the Research & Analysis Wing (RAW), was involved in up to 20 hits in Pakistan since 2020.

The foreign office in Islamabad maintained India’s assassination campaign had become a global phenomenon, necessitating a coordinated international response. It mentioned the killing of a Sikh dissident in Canada and an attempt on the life of another one in the US.

India’s Defense Minister Rajnath Singh told a media outlet in an interview that his country would not hesitate to undertake actions against anyone in Pakistan attempting to carry out “terrorist activities” in his country before crossing the border.

“We have been following the media reports about this issue,” State Department Spokesman Matthew Miller said during his media briefing. “We don’t have any comment on the underlying allegations, but of course, while we’re not going to get in the middle of this situation, we encourage both sides to avoid escalation and find a resolution through dialogue.”

Asked about US Foreign Secretary Antony Blinken’s phone call to his Pakistani counterpart Senator Ishaq Dar on Friday, he said it was to reaffirm the “robust partnership” between the two states.

“The Secretary and Foreign Minister Dar discussed the importance of continued cooperation on counterterrorism, expanding our trade and investment partnership, and advancing women’s economic security and empowerment,” he added.

Last month, US President Joe Biden also wrote a letter to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, assuring the Pakistani leader full American support in addressing the critical challenges facing the region.