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Turkey hopes tensions between Pakistan, India will soon be eased — Erdogan

Turkish President added that Ankara is keeping a close eye on the developments in the region

I9STANBUL, April 28. /TASS/. Turkey hops that Pakistan and India will be able to ease tensions between them as soon a possible, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.

"We hope for the soonest decrease in tensions between Pakistan and India before the situation gets too serious," he said, adding that Ankara is keeping a close eye on the developments in the region.

On April 22, armed men wearing fatigues opened fire with machine guns in the popular tourist town of Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir, killing 25 Indian citizens and one Nepalese national, injuring many others. The attackers fled the scene. Indian intelligence services found evidence that the Pakistani secret services were behind the attack by terrorists from the radical group Lashkar-e-Taiba (outlawed in Russia), The Hindustan Times said, citing sources.

Following the attack, India nearly halved its embassy staff in Islamabad, declared the military advisors of the Pakistani diplomatic mission in India personae non gratae, and closed the key Attari checkpoint on the border with Pakistan. Apart from that, Indian authorities suspended the Indus Water Treaty with Pakistan and stopped issuing visas to Pakistani nationals.