11.   Russia urged Pakistan on Tuesday in meetings between top diplomats to follow through on promises to crack down on militant groups to soothe tensions with India.

12.   Such measures have somewhat soothed tensions in the province, which remained mostly quiet during the wars that raged in other parts of the former Yugoslavia.

13.   The United States, which regards both countries as allies in its war on terror, is trying to soothe escalating tensions on the subcontinent.

14.   Washington is trying hard to soothe escalating tension between the two nuclear-armed neighbors, fearing it will hamper the war on terror.

15.   British Prime Minister Tony Blair visited both New Delhi and Islamabad at the beginning of January in a bid to soothe tensions between the nuclear neighbours.

16.   Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage left Washington Tuesday for a South Asian peace mission calculated to soothe tensions between India and Pakistan over the disputed region of Kashmir.