UNITED NATIONS: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is paying “very close attention” to the escalating tensions between India and Pakistan, his spokesperson said Friday, rejecting a remark that not enough attention was being given to a potential conflict between two nuclear-armed nations.
“I don’t agree with your comment, (but) we are paying very close attention to the situation between India and Pakistan,” Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told a New York Post reporter at the regular noon briefing at UN Headquarters in New York.
Following a question from APP whether the UN chief planned to speak to the leaders of India and Pakistan on his return from Rome, Dujarric said that he hoped to have something on it later, the Post reporter commented, “Amazing, by the way, two nuclear countries … might go to war may merit such little attention…?”
“I don’t agree with your comment (but) we are paying very close attention to the situation between India and Pakistan,” Dujarric asserted.
The United Nations, he added, continues to follow the situation with “very deep concern.”
“And we, of course, reiterate our condemnation of the the attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, which is, you know, killed about 26 civilian and we again urge both the governments of India and the government of Pakistan to exercise maximum restraint to ensure the situation does not deteriorate further.”
On Wednesday, the Secretary-General condemned that attack and expressed condolences to the victims.
Since the Pahalgam incident, India announced a series of measures targeting Pakistan that include unilaterally suspending the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, the closure of the 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 Indian diplomats and closing its airspace to Indian flights.
