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, .