New Delhi, February 18: Three days after Pakistan High Commissioner Sohail Mahmood was summoned by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) over the cross-border terror attack in Pulwama which claimed the lives of 40 CRPF personnel, Islamabad has briefly recalled its envoy. "We have called back our High Commissioner in India for consultations. He left New Delhi this morning," Dr Mohammad Faisal, spokesperson of Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

On Friday, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale had summoned  Mahmood and marked India's strong dissent against the terror attack carried out by Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), the proscribed militant organisation based in frontier region of Pakistan. Time For Peace Talks With Pakistan Over, Says Capt Amarinder Singh.

Apart from India, the diplomatic rap to Islamabad was issued by Iran as well, which summoned the Pakistani ambassador to Tehran on Sunday and accused Islamabad of harbouring a jihadist group behind a deadly suicide attack on security forces.

The suicide bombing on Wednesday killed 27 members of Iran's Revolutionary Guards travelling on a bus in the volatile southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan, which straddles the border with Pakistan. The attack was claimed by the jihadist outfit Jaish al-Adl.

Both Iran and India have appealed the international community to act against Pakistan, charging it of using terrorism as a "state policy". As many as 25 countries were reached out by New Delhi on Friday, seeking condemnation of Pakistan for failing to act against JeM, despite multiple dossiers sent by India.

India's diplomatic outreach yielded results, as United States' National Security Advisor (NSA) John Bolton dialled up his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval, and stated that the US respects India's "right to self-defence".

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 18, 2019 01:22 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).