New York: The newly appointed UN secretary general Antonio Guterres in his first international arbitrary effort is mulling the option of talking to senior officials from India and Pakistan on the current situation in Kashmir and will see how things can be improved on the ground, his spokesperson has said.
While addressing the media the official spokesman of the UN Chief Farhan Haq stated that “Antonio Guterres will talk to different officials if it helps (to) move the process along. That’s something that he is looking into. Beyond that, I have nothing new to say about the issue.”
UN secretary general Antonio Guterres.
The statement of Farhan Haq is been seen by many as an effort to clamp down the unrest prevailing in the Kashmir valley specially after the ‘summer uprising’ of last year that followed after killing of Kashmir’s militant leader Burhan Wani, furthermore he made the remarks in the press conference when he was asked that if Antonio Guterres has been able to understand the Kashmir dispute and would he be talking to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to start a dialogue with Pakistan.
When 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 are “a lot of complex issues” that need to be examined.
Apparently it is the UN Chief “who will look into the issue, and certainly, he will try to see what can be done to improve the situation on the ground,” said Farhan Haq.
Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had repeatedly expressed deep concern about the deteriorating situation along the Line of Control in Kashmir and called on all those involved to prioritise the restoration of calm and stability in order to prevent any further escalation of tensions and loss of lives.