Is the rising tension between India and Pakistan an isolated spike or a precursor to all-out war? RT’s SophieCo heard views from both sides of the divide.

Pakistan is sponsoring terrorism against India, and the vicious cycle won’t end until Islamabad’s makes a decisive break from extremists, says Ashok Kantha, India’s former ambassador to China and ex-secretary for the East at the Ministry of External Affairs.

“It’s not a question of India taking a certain position. In fact the international community is fully convinced… I think there’s absolutely no doubt that Pakistan has a certain true proven track record of sponsoring terrorism,” he said.

Fawad Ahmed Chaudhry, Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting, expressed a polar opposite view to RT’s Sophie Shevardnadze.

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There is no evidence that exceedingly powerful extremist groups are operating from within Pakistani territory, he argues.

“We have historical issues with India, so they try to blame everything on Pakistan.”

In fact, he believes the international calls for restraint were directed at New Delhi more than Islamabad.

“I think Pakistan has received huge world support after this incident… Russia has offered mediation, President Trump has asked for restraint, the European Union has actually said that India must not escalate things,” he said.

In the end, both speakers said the two sides don’t want to go to war, and both blamed the other side for pushing the other towards the precipice of an all-out conflict.

Watch or read the interviews to get the full picture of the conflicting perspectives: