Russia hopes India, Pak won't allow aggravation of situation post scrapping of Art 370

In wake of the changes brought in by New Delhi in the special status to Jammu and Kashmir after scrapping Article 370, Russia on Saturday said it hoped that India and Pakistan will not allow aggravation of the situation in the region.

In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs here said that Moscow is "a consistent supporter of the normalisation of relations between India and Pakistan" and hoped that the differences between the two sides will be "resolved by political and diplomatic means on a bilateral basis".

"We hope that the differences between them will be resolved by political and diplomatic means on a bilateral basis in accordance with the provisions of the Simla Agreement of 1972 and the Lahore Declaration of 1999," the statement said.

Tensions have soared between India and Pakistan after New Delhi earlier this week revoked Article 370 which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir and moved a separate bill to split the state into two union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, which would get its own legislature, and Ladakh, which would not.

The statement also said, "We proceed from fact that the changes associated with the change in the status of the state of Jammu and Kashmir and its division into two union territories is carried out within the framework of the Constitution of the Republic of India."

"We hope that the parties involved will not allow a new aggravation of the situation in the region as a result of the decisions," it added.

Yesterday, President Ram Nath Kovind gave his nod to the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill, 2019, making it into law. The bill was passed in both houses of the Indian Parliament earlier this week with 370 votes in its favour and 70 against it.

The Bill provides for the formation of the Union Territory of Ladakh without legislature and a separate one for Jammu and Kashmir with the legislature.

Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh will come into existence as separate Union Territories on October 31.

Meanwhile, Pakistan, on its part, has downgraded bilateral ties with India and suspended all bilateral trade activities, communication, and railways, which facilitated people-to-people ties between each other.