WASHINGTON (AFP)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged India and Pakistan to restore direct communication to "avoid miscalculation" in a series of calls as the conflict neared all-out war, the State Department said early Saturday.
Rubio placed telephone calls to the rivals' top diplomats and, for the first known time since the conflict erupted, also spoke with Pakistan's army chief, considered the country's key powerbroker.
In the separate calls with the foreign ministers, Rubio "emphasised that both sides need to identify methods to de-escalate and re-establish direct communication to avoid miscalculation," State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said.