MINISTERS urged de-escalation in the crisis between India and Pakistan today, and called for calm in Britain itself amid fears of inter-communal tensions as a result of the military exchanges between the two nuclear-armed powers. 

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer told the Commons: “Rising tensions between India and Pakistan will be of serious concern for many across Britain. 

“We are engaging urgently with both countries as well as other international partners, encouraging dialogue, de-escalation and the protection of civilians.”

Former premier Rishi Sunak, who is of Indian heritage, took a different tack, backing the Modi regime’s conduct.

He wrote on X that “India is justified in striking terrorist infrastructure.

“No nation should have to accept terrorist attacks being launched against it from land controlled by another country.  There can be no impunity for terrorists.”

However, a number of Labour and independent MPs warned that the crisis can only be brought to an end by affording the people of Kashmir long-promised self-determination.

Tahir Ali told MPs that India had been practising ethnic cleansing in Kashmir for 80 years and that for “four thousand years it has never been part of India.”

He called for “promises to the Kashmiri people” to be delivered “once and for all.”

And Naz Shah questioned the lack of evidence presented by the Indian government or Pakistani complicity in last month’s terror attack on tourists in the divided region.

Foreign Office minister Hamish Falconer claimed that Pakistan “must do more to tackle the terrorist threat.”