China urges restraint, Riyadh and Tehran offer help to mediate Pakistan-India conflict

ISLAMABAD: The Unites States (US) has asked Pakistan and China to “avoid miscalculation,” while China urged both its neighbors to exercise restrain, amid a rise in cross-border incursions by Pakistani and Indian militaries.
Rubio held separate telephonic conversations with Pakistani and Indian foreign ministers for the first known time since the conflict erupted, in a bid to lower tensions between the two nuclear-armed archfoes.
The development came amid reports that Pakistan’s prime minister had summoned on Saturday a meeting of the country’s top nuclear body, but Defense Minister Khawaja Asif denied any such move by Islamabad.
“Secretary Rubio emphasized that both sides need to identify methods to de-escalate and re-establish direct communication to avoid miscalculation,” the US State Department said on Saturday.
“He further proposed US support in facilitating productive discussions to avert future disputes.”
Rubio’s call with the two FMs followed Pakistan’s retaliatory strikes against India early Saturday that targeted multiple military sites, including a missile storage facility, after Indian attacks on its air bases.
India said it targeted Pakistani military bases after Islamabad fired several “high-speed missiles” at multiple Indian bases in the country’s Punjab state. The claims could not be independently verified.
The latest escalation between Pakistan and India was triggered by an April 22 attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that killed 26 tourists. New Delhi blamed Pakistan for the assault, Islamabad denies the charge and has called for a credible, international investigation.
The Muslim-majority Himalayan region of Kashmir is claimed in full but ruled only in part by both Hindu-majority India and Islamic republic of Pakistan. It has been the site of wars, insurgency and diplomatic standoffs over the decades.
Days of clashes between the two neighbors, which began after Wednesday’s missile strikes by New Delhi deep inside Pakistan, have killed nearly 50 people on both sides and brought the nuclear-armed arch-foes to the brink of a full-blown war.
Rubio separately held a telephonic conversation with Pakistan’s Army Chief General Asim Munir in a bid to lower tensions between the two sides.
“He continued to urge both parties to find ways to deescalate and offered US assistance in starting constructive talks in order to avoid future conflicts,” the State Department said.
Pakistan said that, before its retaliatory attacks, India had fired missiles at three air bases, including one close to the capital, Islamabad, but Pakistani air defenses intercepted most of them. Five civilians were killed in the latest strikes in the Jammu region of Indian-administered Kashmir, the regional police said.
Analysts and diplomats have long feared that a conflict between the arch-rivals could escalate into the use of nuclear weapons, in one of the world’s most dangerous and most populated nuclear flashpoint regions.
China, which borders both Pakistan and India, has urged the arch-foes to exercise restraint.
“We strongly call on both India and Pakistan to give priority to peace and stability, remain calm and restrained, return to the track of political settlement through peaceful means and avoid taking actions that further escalate tensions,” a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on Saturday.
The Group of Seven (G7) major countries on Friday urged India and Pakistan to engage in direct dialogue.
“We call for immediate de-escalation and encourage both countries to engage in direct dialogue toward a peaceful outcome,” the G7 statement said.
The foreign ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the US, Britain and the European Union said in a statement they “strongly condemn” an April 22 attack, which killed 26 people in India-administered Kashmir. India blamed Pakistan, which denied the accusations and called for a neutral probe into the attack that has sparked the latest fighting between the two neighbors.
In recent years, India has been seen as an important partner by Western powers as a counter-balance to China’s rising influence. Pakistan is a US ally although its importance has diminished since Washington’s 2021 withdrawal from neighboring Afghanistan.

KARACHI: Pakistan is facing a “big backlog” of export containers at its ports after international shipping lines began bypassing the country, following India’s decision to block vessels carrying Pakistani cargo, officials and shipping documents confirmed to Arab News on Friday.
The disruption has led several global shipping companies to impose emergency operational surcharges on Pakistani cargo, citing the “significant impact” of regional geopolitical tensions on their operations.
The move is expected to raise shipping costs and, ultimately, consumer prices in Pakistan, a country of over 240 million people already grappling with economic challenges.
“The European shipping services are bypassing Pakistan ports after India’s ban on the transit of ships loaded with cargoes from Pakistan,” said Syed Tahir Hussain, Secretary General of the Pakistan Ship Agents Association (PSAA).
He accused New Delhi of attempting to undermine Pakistan’s recovering economy, which has shown signs of stabilization under the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) $7 billion loan program.
PSAA Chairman Mohammed A. Rajpar called India’s move “unwarranted” and against international conventions, saying it was designed to discourage shipping lines from calling at Pakistani ports.
The situation comes as Islamabad is attempting to break free from its boom-and-bust economic cycles by boosting exports, which rose 6 percent to $27 billion through April, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
Until recently, many international shipping services transited Pakistani cargo through India’s largest ports — Mundra and Nhava Sheva — by loading what is termed Remaining On Board (ROB) freight.
However, India embargoed this practice last week, prompting several carriers to remove Pakistani ports from their routes and instead launch dedicated feeder services to handle trade valued at approximately $87 billion last year.
Most of Pakistan’s containerized cargo is handled through the South Asia Pakistan Terminal (SAPT) operated by CH Hutchison Holdings, Qasim International Container Terminal (QICT) run by DP World and the Karachi Gateway Terminal managed by Abu Dhabi Ports Group.
“Some vessels carrying Pakistan’s exports sailed from QICT were not allowed berthing in India,” said Hussain, whose association represents over 50 international shipping lines.
“They had to divert to Dubai and other nearby ports,” he added, without specifying when the incident occurred.
Shipping documents seen by Arab News show that at least four vessels were denied entry by Indian authorities earlier this week due to “Karachi onboard cargo.” These ships were rerouted to Colombo in Sri Lanka and Jebel Ali in the United Arab Emirates.
Swiss carrier MSC Mediterranean Shipping redirected all destination cargo via Colombo aboard its vessel MSC Positano V-JP526R, which had been scheduled to call at QICT on May 6.
This change, MSC said in a customer notice, was “due to the current geopolitical situation and restrictions on imports and exports via/from India.”
French shipping giant CMA CGM has removed Karachi from at least four of its service routes, citing the need to adjust operations to and from Pakistan.
“BIG BACKLOG” AT PORTS
Export congestion is building at Pakistani ports as hundreds of containers await shipment.
“There is big backlog,” said Khurram Mukhtar, Patron-in-Chief of the Pakistan Textile Exporters Association (PTEA).
Textiles remain Pakistan’s largest export sector, contributing $17 billion last year.
Mukhtar noted that most shipping lines were now planning to route exports through Colombo, with system updates expected by Monday.
MSC has launched a “Pakistan-Colombo Shuttle Service,” a weekly feeder vessel that will transport export containers to Sri Lanka for onward connections to global destinations.
Amid the ongoing crisis, international shipping lines have begun imposing surcharges on Pakistani exporters and importers.
CMA CGM has introduced an Emergency Operational Recovery Surcharge (EORS) of up to $800 per container for shipments to the US, Latin America and Australia, effective from May 15 through June 6.
The French firm said the surcharge was necessary to maintain service reliability and safety during this period. CMA CGM operates more than 250 routes globally with a fleet of 650 vessels.
“Pakistan’s exports are suffering,” said a senior official at one of Pakistan’s major container terminals, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“This will lead to the buildup of a huge container backlog at Pakistani ports,” the official said. “There will be issues like port demurrages. The shipping lines will be charging the consignees with detentions.”