G7 nations urge India and Pakistan to have direct dialogue

(Reuters) - The Group of Seven countries on Friday urged maximum restraint from both India and Pakistan and called on them to engage in direct dialogue amid rising hostilities between the two nuclear-armed Asian neighbors.

In a statement released by Canada, the foreign ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, U.S., UK and the European Union said they "strongly condemn" a deadly attack on tourists in Indian Kashmir on April 22 and "urge maximum restraint from both India and Pakistan."

"We call for immediate de-escalation and encourage both countries to engage in direct dialogue towards a peaceful outcome," the G7 statement said.

Locked in a longstanding dispute over Kashmir, the two nuclear-armed neighbors have engaged in daily clashes since Wednesday when India launched strikes inside Pakistan on what it called militant bases.

India said the strikes were retaliation for the April 22 tourist attack that it blamed on Pakistan and for which Pakistan denies responsibility. Pakistan vowed to retaliate. Pakistan and India claim Kashmir in full but each controls only part.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; editing by Costas Pitas)