By Asif Shahzad and Krishna N. Das ISLAMABAD/NEW DELHI (Reuters) -India on Wednesday opened all gates of major dams on rivers in its part of the Kashmir region following heavy rains, and warned neighbouring Pakistan of the possibility of downstream flooding,

Arch-rivals India and Pakistan have been ravaged by intense monsoon rains and flooding in recent weeks. The release of excess water from India's dams threatens to further flood parts of Pakistan's Punjab province, which serves as the country's breadbasket and is home to half of its 240 million people.

Officials say rescuers in eastern Pakistan have evacuated tens of thousands of people to safer areas after neighboring India released water from overflowing dams and swollen rivers into low-lying border regions.