The United States has urged India and Pakistan to ease tensions following a newspaper report that accused Delhi of ordering 20 killings in Pakistan, which the Indian government rejected as "propaganda".

Washington said it preferred a hands-off policy, but that it hoped India and Pakistan would try and resolve the latest row without further trouble.

"We're not going to get in the middle of this situation [but] we encourage both sides to avoid escalation and find a resolution through dialogue," US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters.

The UK's Guardian newspaper, quoting unnamed operatives, recently reported that officials in Delhi had ordered the murder of nearly 20 individuals in Pakistan since 2020 – around 15 of them last year alone.

"Interviews with intelligence officials in both countries, as well as documents shared by Pakistani investigators, shed new light on how India's foreign intelligence agency allegedly began to carry out assassinations abroad as part of an emboldened approach to national security after 2019," said the article, published last week.

'False And Malicious'

The Guardian claimed that India drew inspiration from spy services in Israel and Russia, and put plans into action after a 2019 suicide attack on an army convoy in Kashmir killed 40 soldiers.

The lengthy investigation does not have a single named source, but is purportedly based on confidential interviews and "detailed documentation" alleging links between the attacks and an Indian spy agency.

Islamabad responded sharply to the statement.

(With Agency Inputs)