Pakistan campaigns for Nobel Peace Prize for PM Khan

Pakistan's ruling party has joined a social media campaign advocating a Nobel Peace Prize for Prime Minister Imran Khan for his "sagacious" role in defusing tensions with India.

Minister for Information Fawad Chaudhry submitted a resolution suggesting he receive the prize to the National Assembly on Saturday.

The resolution is likely to be tabled on Monday for a vote in the assembly, Sibghat Virk, a member of Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) said on Sunday.

Since the ruling party has numerical superiority over the opposition in the chamber, it is expected to pass. Some 300,000 people have signed an online petition calling for the award be given to Khan, Dawn news reported.

The hashtag #NobelPeacePrizeForImranKhan had been trending on social media in Pakistan after Islamabad handed back captured Indian pilot Abhinandan Varthaman on Friday.

Varthaman was captured after his aircraft was shot down over the disputed region of Kashmir two days earlier, heightening fears that an all-out conflict could erupt between the neighbours.

Pakistan said it released the pilot as a peace gesture and without being under any pressure.

On Tuesday, India's air force claimed to have struck an alleged training militant camp in Pakistan, the first intrusion by its forces into Pakistani territory since 1971.

New Delhi said it had killed a large number of militants from the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) group that it blamed for a suicide bombing that killed 40 paramilitary soldiers in Indian-administered Kashmir on February 14.