'Turkey ready to help defuse Pakistan, India tension'

<p>By Beyza Binnur Donmez</p> <p>ANKARA (AA) – Turkey is ready to do its part to de-escalate tension between Pakistan and India, said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday.</p> <p>Escalating tension between India and Pakistan helps no one, Erdogan told a campaign rally in Trabzon, in Turkey’s Black Sea region.</p> <p>Erdogan also hailed Pakistan’s move in handing over an Indian pilot downed in the recent tension, adding that he looks forward to seeing similar steps from India.</p> <p>On Friday, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, an Indian pilot who became the face of escalating conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbors, was handed over to Indian authorities by Pakistan.</p> <p>Varthaman had been held in Pakistan after his aircraft was downed on Wednesday in a dogfight with Pakistani jets along the de facto Kashmir border.</p> <p>A day later, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan announced his release in a widely hailed gesture of goodwill.</p>