United Nations Secretary -General Antonio Guterres is keeping an eye on the situation between India and Pakistan “very closely and with great concern” and appeal to the two governments to maintain maximum restraint and ensure that the situation worsened. His spokesperson said this.
General Secretary spokesman Stephen Dujarik said in a daily press conference on Thursday, “We are very clear in condemning the terrorist attack on the 22nd, two days ago in Jammu and Kashmir, in which a large number of citizens were killed.”
Dujarik was answering the question as to whether Guterres had made any contact with the governments of India and Pakistan in which 26 civilians were killed in the midst of increasing tension after the Pahalgam terror attack.
He said that Guterres has not made any direct contact, “But I can tell you that he is clearly following the situation very closely and with great concern.”
The General Secretary appealed to both India and Pakistan governments to be maximum restrained and ensure that the situation and the developments we have seen is not worse.
Dujarik said, “We believe that any issue between Pakistan and India can be resolved peacefully and resolved through meaningful, mutual interactions.”
Militants opened fire near Pahalgam city in Kashmir on Tuesday, killing 26 people, mostly tourists, which was the deadliest attack in the valley after the Pulwama attack in 2019.
India on Wednesday reduced diplomatic relations with Pakistan and announced several measures, which involves expel to Pakistani military athe, to suspend the Indus Water Treaty of 1960 and immediate closure of the Attari land-trading outpost in view of cross-border relations of the terrible terrorist attack.
On India’s decision to suspend the Indus Water Treaty with Pakistan, Dujarik said, “I think it will be under the appeal of us to take maximum restraint and not take any such action that increases the situation and the tension in the deteriorating or stressful fields.” In a statement earlier this week, Guterres strongly condemned the “armed attack” in Pahalgam.
He expressed his heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families of the victims. Dujarik said, “The General Secretary insisted that the attacks against citizens are unacceptable under any circumstances.”
Meanwhile, at another event organized by the permanent mission of India to the United Nations, Philamon Yang, president of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, said, “First, I want to express my heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims of the recent attacks in Jammu and Kashmir.” Yang said that it is unacceptable to target citizens and it cannot be justified under any circumstances.
