OTTAWA, May 31: Foreign ministers from the world’s leading nations on Friday expressed their grave concern about the standoff between India and Pakistan and called on Islamabad to stop “terrorist groups” operating from territory under its control.

The Group of Eight ministers said in a joint statement that they were “gravely concerned about the risks inherent in the current crisis between India and Pakistan, which could destabilize the region and beyond”.

India and Pakistan, which both have nuclear weapons, are under increasing international pressure to avert war.

The two countries have deployed about a million men on their border since a December attack on India’s parliament that New Delhi blamed on Pakistani-based militants fighting its rule in the disputed region of Kashmir.—Reuters