UN says global ceasefire appeal also includes LoC

Secretary general’s spokesperson says there is no region in the world in which the call does not apply

UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations said on Wednesday that Secretary General Antonio Guterres’ recent global appeal for a ceasefire in the world’s conflict zones also applied to the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir, where India had repeatedly been violating the ceasefire, causing casualties and damages on the Pakistani side.

The secretary general, in an appeal issued on March 23, had urged warring parties across the world to lay down their weapons in support of the bigger battle against COVID-19, “the common enemy” that is now threatening all of humankind.

“Secretary General’s recent appeal for a ceasefire in world’s conflict zones also applies to the Line of Control in the disputed state of Jammu and Kashmir,” the UN chief’s spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told his daily online news briefing at the UN.



“There is no region in the world, in which the Secretary General’s call for global ceasefire does not apply,” Dujarric said in response to a question. “That is clear. It is global and it means global,” the spokesperson added.

The global appeal, though, did not seem to affect Indian occupation troops who frequently fire across the LoC in violation of the ceasefire, despite a rise in coronavirus cases in the occupied territory amid a crippling lockdown.

Twin challenges

Pakistan is also a major troops contributor to the UN peacekeeping operation in the conflict zones worldwide. A diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity that measures taken against COVID-19 had had an impact on the peacekeeping operations.

With 110,000 peacekeepers deployed in more than a dozen countries around a world now ravaged by the coronavirus, the United Nations faces twin challenges: keeping those soldiers safe and, more importantly, persuading governments not to bring them home.

The UN under secretary general for peacekeeping operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, told AFP that so far, he had not received any requests for withdrawal of peacekeeping troops because of COVID-19. “It is more essential than ever to press on with our collective commitment to peace,” he said.



Preparing for the arrival of the virus in countries with UN blue-helmeted soldiers—and to avoid spreading the pathogen—on March 6 the UN stopped rotating its troops in and out of conflict zones where they are trying to keep the peace.

Lacroix believed that the pandemic would have a particularly rough impact in countries with UN peacekeepers because of weak infrastructure and war-ruined health care networks but added: “What is encouraging is that we are a step ahead of the virus in most of the settings.”

Ceasefire in Yemen

On Thursday, the Saudi-led coalition began a unilateral ceasefire in Yemen’s long war, saying that it hoped the initiative to prevent coronavirus in the impoverished country would lead to a wider political solution.

Yemen’s Huthi rebels had not made any comment on the coalition’s declaration of a two-week pause. But hours before the announcement, they released a comprehensive document that called for a withdrawal of foreign troops and the end to the coalition’s blockade on Yemen’s land, sea and airports.

The rebel document also demanded that the coalition pay government salaries for the next decade, and hand over compensation for the rebuilding of the country including homes destroyed in the coalition’s airstrikes during the conflict.