The United States is stepping up pressure on India and Pakistan to avoid conflict in Kashmir after a tourist massacre in an Indian-administered area of the divided territory last week.

NEW DELHI (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called senior officials in India and Pakistan in an effort to defuse the crisis that followed last week’s deadly attack in Kashmir, the State Department said.

The United States has appealed to India and Pakistan to de-escalate after a deadly attack in Kashmir, as New Delhi on Thursday said that both sides again traded border gunfire