Pompeo hopeful India-Pak tension would come down

Washington, March 1: United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday he had "good conversations" with Indian and Pakistani leaders and was hopeful that the rising tension will come down between the two nuclear-armed neighbors.

Over the last two days, Pompeo spoke to the leaders of the two countries including External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, National Security Advisor Ajit K Doval and Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi.

"We were and continue to be very engaged with the issue between India and Pakistan," Pompeo told reporters traveling with him from Hanoi, Vietnam to Manila in the Philippines.

"I spent a good deal of time on the phone last night talking to leaders in both countries, making sure there was good information exchanged, encouraging each country to not take any action that would escalate and create increased risk," he said.

"I had good conversations, and I am hopeful that we can take down the tension there, at least for the time being, so they can begin to have conversations that don't portend risk of escalation to either of the two countries. So we're working hard on that," Pompeo said.