India, May 10 -- US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Saturday interacted with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar over telephone when he urged the Indian leader to identify methods to de-escalate the ongoing tension with neighbouring Pakistan.

This is the most intense conflict between the two nuclear-armed neighbours since 1999.

Speaking on the interaction with Rubio, S Jaishankar wrote on X: "Had a conversation with US @SecRubio this morning."

Sharing details about the telephonic conversation, US Department of State said: "Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. Secretary Rubio emphasized that both sides need to identify methods to de-escalate and re-establish direct comm...