UN chief urges Pakistan, India to resolve Kashmir issue through dialogue

Says UN has been engaged in bringing about dialogue between two battling nations

UNITED NATIONS: United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, on Tuesday, suggested that his recent meetings with the Pakistani and Indian leadership was a way to facilitate talks between the two nations battling over Kashmir.

During a press briefing at the UN headquarters, Guterres was asked, “Are you engaged in bringing about a dialogue between India and Pakistan to resolve the Kashmir dispute?”



The UN Secretary General replied, “Why do you think I met three times the Prime Minister of Pakistan and two times the Prime Minister of India?  For someone accused of doing nothing, it's quite a number of meetings.”

Guterres has met Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif thrice and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi twice since he took office as the UN Chief in January this year.

Kashmir has been a disputed region between Pakistan and India since independence from Britain in 1947. Two of three wars have been fought over the valley.



Indian-held Kashmir witnessed deadly protests in 2016, after a popular separatist leader, Burhan Wani, was killed by Indian forces. Last September, tension escalated when at least 19 Indian soldiers were killed in an assault on an army camp in Kashmir, an attack India blamed on Pakistan-based militants.

Soon after his appointment as UN chief in January 2017, Guterres had been urging Islamabad and New Delhi to hold talks on the deteriorating situation in Kashmir.