UN urges India, Pakistan to exercise 'maximum restraint' following Pahalgam attack

UNITED NATIONS: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appealed to Pakistan and India to “exercise maximum restraint”, and to ensure that the situation and the developments, which have taken place following the armed attack in Indian Occupied Kashmir on Tuesday, does not deteriorate any further.

“The Secretary-General is obviously following the situation very closely and with very great concern,” his Spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, said in response to a question at the regular noon briefing at UN Headquarters in New York.

According to media reports, about 26 people were killed in the gun attack that took place near Pahalgam, a tourist resort in the Indian Occupied Kashmir.

The Secretary-General had condemned that attack and expressed condolences with the victims.

Since then, India has announced a series of measures targeting Pakistan that include unilaterally suspending the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, the closure of border crossing linking the two countries, the expulsion of diplomats and an order for some Pakistani visa holders to leave within 48 hours.

Pakistan, which firmly denied the country’s role in the attack, retaliated by suspending all visas issued to Indian nationals under an exemption scheme with immediate effect, as well as expelling some of Indian diplomats and closing its airspace to Indian flights.

To a question, the spokesman said that the UN chief hasn’t had any direct contact with the leadership of India and Pakistan.

Dujarric said that any issues between Pakistan and India, “we believe can be and should be resolved peacefully through meaningful mutual engagement.”

Specifically asked to comment on the suspension by India of the Indus Waters Treaty, Dujarric said, “I think this would go under the rubric of us appealing for maximum restraint and not taking any actions that would deteriorate the situation further or increase tensions in a tense area.”