NEW YORK: United Nations (UN) Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday appealed to Pakistan and India to exercise maximum restraint in wake of Tuesday’s airspace violations by Indian aircraft at the Line of Control (LoC), the Radio Pakistan reported.
Briefing the reporters at UN Headquarters in New York, the UN secretary general’s spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is closely following the situation.
He said that the world body chief reiterated his urgent appeal to both governments of Pakistan and India to exercise maximum restraint to ensure that the situation does not further deteriorate.
Replying to a question about Indian claims of heavy casualties on the Pakistani side, he said that the UN had nothing on it.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the UN Maleeha Lodhi delivered Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s letter addressed to the UN secretary-general at his office.
The Pakistani envoy is also circulating to the UN member states the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) condemnation of airspace violations along the LoC by Indian warplanes.
Meanwhile, the United Kingdom (UK) also expressed deep concerns about rising tensions between Pakistan and India and urgently called for restraint on both sides to avoid further escalation.
“We are in regular contact with both countries, urging dialogue and diplomatic solutions to ensure regional stability,” a statement issued on Wednesday said. “We are working closely with international partners including through the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to de-escalate tensions,” the statement added.