Saudi Arabia’s minister of state for foreign affairs arrived for an “official visit” to Pakistan’s capital Islamabad on Friday on a potential mission to calm tensions between the country and its neighbor India, CNN quoted Pakistan’s foreign ministry as saying.

Adel al-Jubeir’s surprise trip comes as regional leaders urge India and Pakistan to ease cross-border attacks following their latest military flare-up over the long-disputed region of Kashmir, to which both nuclear-armed nations claim full sovereignty.

A senior Pakistani government source had told CNN that Islamabad is “giving space for diplomacy” before any potential response to India’s initial assault early Wednesday.

The Saudi minister touched down from New Delhi, where he met India’s Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar on Thursday to discuss “India’s perspectives on firmly countering terrorism,” the latter said in a post on X.

The Persian Gulf Arab states — including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — are among the top candidates to mediate those potential negotiations, given their close ties to India and Pakistan.