The Pakistan government’s official radio channel, Radio Pakistan, in a bulletin said Turkey has “categorically announced to stand by Pakistan and its people in the face of Indian aggression”.
Pakistan media claimed that the Turkish foreign minister Mevlüt Çavusoglu called his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi to express the sentiments of Ankara.
For the Indian side, France has expressed support on the Indian action in Balakot in Pakistan’s Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on Tuesday. In a statement shared by the Twitter handle of Indian embassy in France it said: “France recognises India’s legitimacy to ensure its security against cross-border terrorism”. It also condemned the attack on Indian security forces in Pulwama on February 14.
The statement further said that France called on India and Pakistan to “exercise restraint” and avert any risk of “military escalation”.
With the situation between India and Pakistan further escalating, with both sides claiming to down fighter jets of the other, several countries have reminded the two nuclear nations to show restraint.
China, a known ally of Pakistan, has repeated its message of exercising restraint. Indian external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj is currently in China attending the 16th Russia-India-China foreign ministers' meeting in Wuzhen.
Earlier today, China’s foreign minister mentioned that Beijing hoped that the two neighbours would conduct a dialogue and establish facts through investigation and try to keep things under control.
In a statement issued in Washington on Tuesday, US secretary of state Mike Pompeo said he had spoken separately to ministers of both countries and urged them to avoid “escalation at any cost”. Pompeo added that he encouraged both ministers to “prioritise direct communication”.
The same evening, Australian foreign minister Marise Payne also urged the two countries to “avoid any action which would endanger peace and security in the region”.
Three countries, Australia, France and the US, called on Pakistan to put an end to the terrorist or extremist groups that operate from its territory.
