UN chief reiterates advice for Pak-India dialogue to settle Kashmir issue

NEW YORK: The United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, has reiterated his suggestion for a dialogue between India and Pakistan to settle the grave crisis stemming from New Dehli’s annexation of the disputed Kashmir region.

In his regular media briefing at United Nations Headquarters in New York, Spokesman of the UN Secretary-General Stephane Dujarric said that the UN Chief is a strong believer of a dialogue, Radio Pakistan reported.

The spokesman said the position of the United Nations on this region is governed by the UN Charter and applicable Security Council resolutions.

He said the UN Secretary-General also recalled the 1972 Agreement on bilateral relations between India and Pakistan also known as the Simla Agreement, which states that the final status of Jammu and Kashmir is to be settled by peaceful means, in accordance with the UN Charter.

On August 5, the Indian government had announced the scrapping of the special status of occupied Kashmir by revoking Article 370 of the Indian constitution.

The New Dehli’s move was rejected by Islamabad and since then the row between two sides has escalated quickly to an extent that the Kashmir issue has become a nuclear ‘flashpoint’ in the region.