- Spokesperson says Guterres to talk to officials on long standing issue
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is considering to hold talks with officials from Pakistan and India on the deteriorating situation in Jammu Kashmir and will see how things can be improved on the ground, his spokesperson has said.
“He will talk to different officials if it helps move the process along. That’s something that he is looking into,” deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said while responding to a question whether Guterres, who took over as UN chief in January, has come to any conclusion about how to deal with the situation in the disputed state.
“Beyond that, I have nothing new to say about the issue,” he added. Asked if there is a timeline as to when the UN chief will talk to leaders from the two countries, Haq said as with any number of long-running situations, there were a lot of complex issues that need to be examined. The UN chief will look into the issue, and certainly, he would try to see what can be done to improve the situation on the ground, he said.
On January 6, the secretary-general offered to play a role of an honest broker between Pakistan and India amid escalating tensions between the two countries. The UN chief made the offer during a meeting with Pakistan’s UN Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi, who gave him an extensive briefing on the situation in Kashmir.
On Thursday, Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria reiterated that Kashmir was the bone of contention between Pakistan and India. In January, Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz has sent a letter to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in which the Kashmir issue was raised.
In the letter, he notes the challenges confronting the region and how these can be best addressed through regional cooperation, conflict resolution and peaceful settlements of disputes. He underlines Pakistan’s desire to settle all outstanding issues with India including Jammu Kashmir. He emphasised the responsibility of the UN for the just and durable settlement of the Jammu Kashmir issue in accordance with the Security Council resolutions.
