Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, the chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party and former foreign minister, said cooperation between Pakistan's ISI and India's RAW could significantly reduce terrorism in South Asia.

He made the statement at a press conference at the UN headquarters on Tuesday. He was leading a high-level delegation to the United States as part of a global diplomatic effort to seek support after Pakistan’s recent conflict with India.

He said, "I am completely confident that if ISI and RAW were ready to sit down and work together to fight these forces, we would see a significant decrease in terrorism in both India and Pakistan," according to the Dawn newspaper.

On Wednesday, Shashi Tharoor led an Indian delegation that began meetings in Washington. On the same day, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and his delegation also arrived in the US capital.

Shashi Tharoor led an all-party delegation to Washington, DC to engage with US Congress members, administration officials, think tanks, media, and policymakers.

The Indian delegation aimed to brief US stakeholders on Operation Sindoor, a diplomatic initiative launched to counter terrorism and disinformation following recent terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir.

During the press conference, Bilawal Bhutto urged the international community to remain involved in South Asia. He warned that the risk of conflict between nuclear-armed neighbours had increased, not decreased, after the recent ceasefire.

He said, "With the intervention of the international community — and I would like to mention particularly the role played by the US President Donald Trump and his team led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio — we did manage to achieve a ceasefire between India and Pakistan. This is a welcome first step, but it’s only a first step."

Tensions between India and Pakistan rose after the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam. India carried out precision strikes targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on May 7.

In response, Pakistan attempted strikes on Indian military bases on May 8, 9, and 10. India responded firmly.

Hostilities subsided after military-level talks on May 10. The Director Generals of Military Operations (DGsMO) from both countries agreed to stop further actions.

Rubbishing claims from former US President Donald Trump that the US helped de-escalate the situation, India said the de-escalation happened through direct communication and agreement between the two DGsMO.

Bhutto-Zardari said diplomacy and dialogue were the only viable path to peace. He repeated Pakistan’s willingness to hold a broad dialogue with India, including cooperation on counterterrorism.

He said, "Pakistan would still like to cooperate with India to combat terrorism. We can’t leave the fate of 1.5 billion, 1.7 billion people in the hands of non-state actors and terrorists... For them to decide, at a whim, that (when these) two nuclear-armed powers will go to war."

Shashi Tharoor, the chairperson of the standing committee on external affairs, led the Indian delegation. The members included Sarfaraz Ahmad (JMM), Ganti Harish Madhur Balayogi (TDP), Shashank Mani Tripathi (BJP), Bhubaneswar Kalita (BJP), Milind Deora (Shiv Sena), Tejasvi Surya (BJP), and India’s former Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Sandhu.

The Indian delegation arrived in New York on May 24. Before arriving in Washington, they visited Guyana, Panama, Colombia and Brazil.

In the US, they planned to share India’s stand against terrorism and highlight Pakistan’s links to terrorism.

According to PTI, the Pakistani delegation led by Bhutto-Zardari also arrived in Washington on Wednesday.

While in New York, Bhutto met UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres with his delegation. He told reporters they would meet US government representatives and lawmakers in Washington.

The nine-member Pakistani delegation included former foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar, former information minister Sherry Rehman, former defence minister Khurram Dastgir Khan, and former foreign secretaries Jalil Abbas Jilani and Tehmina Janjua. The delegation planned to visit New York and Washington from June 2. They would also travel to London and Brussels.

The Indian delegation was expected to engage with members of the Trump administration, key congressional committees, and prominent American lawmakers in Washington.