Dhaka, May 3 -- India said on Saturday it had banned the import of goods coming from or transiting via Pakistan and barred Pakistani ships as tensions rise between the nuclear-armed neighbours in the wake of a deadly attack on tourists in the disputed Kashmir region.

India's Directorate General of Foreign Trade said in a notification that the ban would take effect immediately.

"This restriction is imposed in the interest of national security and public policy," it said.

Suspected militants killed at least 26 people in last week's attack on a mountain tourist destination in the Pahalgam area of the Kashmir valley.

The Muslim-majority Himalayan region is claimed by both India and Pakistan, and has been the focus of several wars, an insu...