ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, urged restraint during a telephone call with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud on Saturday.According to a statement issued by the Foreign Office spokesperson, the two leaders discussed the latest regional developments.The Deputy Prime Minister stressed that all concerned in the region must avoid any escalatory move and advised to resolve the issues through dialogue and diplomacy for the sake of regional peace and stability.Earlier, Pakistan expressed its full support for the diplomatic efforts led by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to promote peace and stability in the Republic of Yemen. Pakistan also commended the United Arab Emirates for its role in these efforts.“Pakistan is closely following the recent developments in Yemen,” the Foreign Office spokesperson said in a statement issued last week.Pakistan underscored the need for upholding the unity and territorial integrity of Yemen, and expressed the hope that the Yemeni stakeholders would avoid any unilateral steps that might result in further escalation of the situation.Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry called on Saturday for Yemen’s southern factions to attend a “dialogue” in Riyadh, after deadly airstrikes and a surprise independence bid.In a statement posted to social media, the Saudi ministry urged “a comprehensive conference in Riyadh to bring together all southern factions to discuss just solutions to the southern cause”. Riyadh said the Yemeni government had issued the invitation for talks.Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have for years supported various factions within Yemen’s government-run territories, intervening in the neighbouring country’s long-running civil war.One of those factions, the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC), is now pushing to declare independence and form a breakaway state, which would split the Arabian Peninsula’s poorest state in two.