New Delhi, March 9: Pakistan High Commissioner to India, Sohail Mehmood, who was called back to Islamabad following the February 14 Pulwama terror attack,  has been sent back by the Imran Khan government. The decision was finalised earlier in the week, with New Delhi also agreeing to return its envoy to Islamabad, Ajay Bisaria, who is also scheduled to resume his charge from today.

Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, while speaking to reporters on Wednesday, said Mahmood would be sent back to New Delhi, as Islamabad intends to "de-escalate" tensions with India, and normalise relations with the eastern neighbour. 'Pakistan Started Crying at 5am...Yet Doubts Raised by Their Sympathisers': PM Modi on Balakot Air Strike.

"Tensions between India and Pakistan appear to be de-escalating and this is a positive development," Qureshi said. "Pakistan has further increased diplomatic efforts and we have decided to send back the Pakistani high commissioner to New Delhi (Sohail Mahmood)," he added.

Pakistan had called its envoy back to Islamabad for urgent consultations in the wake of the February 14 Pulwama terror attack by Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) which left 40 CRPF personnel dead. Islamabad took the step after India called back its envoy Ajay Bisaria to New Delhi.

After the Pulwama attack, the Indian Air Force carried out a counter-terror operation, hitting what it said was a JeM training camp in Balakot, deep inside Pakistan on February 26.

The next day, Pakistan Air Force retaliated and downed a MiG-21 and captured its pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman who was handed over to India on Friday.

(With PTI inputs)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 09, 2019 06:02 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).