New Delhi: Nepal’s civil society has appealed for peace amid escalating tensions between India and Pakistan in the aftermath of the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, in which 26 civilians, mostly tourists, had died. Notably, one of the victims was a Nepali citizen.A statement undersigned by 14 people from different sections of the civil society, read, “We, citizens of Nepal, express our alarm at the overnight escalation of tension between India and Pakistan, which follows the terrorist attack on civilians in Pahalgam, Kashmir. The cross-border attack by the Indian military is likely to attract a Pakistani response, and we are concerned that matters will spiral out of control between the two nuclear-armed powers with powerful militaries.”The undersigned members have urged the Indian and Pakistani governments to communicate with each other, build trust and “resist the call to war”.The civil society statement also highlighted how the frenzy around the call to war tends to be amplified by media and social media, and decried the use of religious rhetoric on both sides to fan the tension. “This weaponization of religion simultaneously intensifies communal tension and the vulnerability of religious minorities in all our countries,” the statement read.Meanwhile, India’s Ambassador to Nepal Naveen Srivastava has also called on Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli on Friday to brief him about the developments related to the India-Pakistan tension.The signatories include Nepal’s former human rights commissioner Sushil Pyakurel, senior journalists, human rights activists, lawyers, farmers and others.Here is the full statement:“We, citizens of Nepal, express our alarm at the overnight escalation of tension between India and Pakistan, which follows the terrorist attack on civilians in Pahalgam, Kashmir. The cross-border attack by the Indian military is likely to attract a Pakistani response, and we are concerned that matters will spiral out of control between the two nuclear-armed powers with powerful militaries.We strongly urge the governments in New Delhi and Islamabad to communicate with each other, directly or through intermediaries, to build trust and confidence so as to avoid intensification. We ask the authorities in both countries to resist the call to war that tends to be amplified by media and social media in such times. We decry the use of religious rhetoric on both sides to fan the tension. This weaponization of religion simultaneously intensifies communal tension and the vulnerability of religious minorities in all our countries.India and Pakistan are the largest and fifth largest countries in the world by population. They are also the largest and second-largest countries of South Asia, whose 1.4 billion people cumulatively constitute a fourth of the world’s population. South Asia struggles with inequity, with a significant portion of its people living in poverty, and an all-out conflict between the two regional powers would impact the region’s economy as a whole, leading to further impoverishment. A conflict between India and Pakistan also has global dimensions, for it will polarise world powers at a time of geopolitical disruptions and realignments. Since there is no time to lose, we ask all concerned powers, in particular the United States and China, to work together to prevent escalation of tensions between India and Pakistan. We also call upon the United Nations to activate itself to prevent a deepening of the India-Pakistan conflict. Similarly, we ask the Government of Nepal, as the present chair of the SAARC organisation, to immediately consult with counterparts in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives and Sri Lanka to bring moral pressure to bear on the authorities of India and Pakistan. Inaction is not the answer in a time of regional crisis.We recall the condemnable attack by armed groups in Pahalgam, which killed 26 civilians, including a Nepali citizen. That carnage provided the trigger for the present India-Pakistan conflict. We note that the Government of Pakistan, too, has publicly sought an international investigation into the Pahalgam killings. There must be concerted bilateral and international effort to locate and hold the perpetrators of Pahalgam accountable, so that justice is done and there is a build-up of confidence between India and Pakistan.”