UN Chief urges Pakistan and India to “seriously discuss their problems”

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has urged Pakistan and India to “seriously discuss their problems.”

During a news briefing of 2021 in New York on Thursday, he shed light on the need to “fully respect” human rights in the Indian-Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

He said, “Now, things have not moved in the right direction. Our good offices are always available, and we will insist within it on finding peaceful solutions for problems that have no military solution,”

“It is clear when seeing Pakistan and India, any military confrontation between the two would be a disaster of unmitigated proportions for both countries and the whole world”.

Tensions between Pakistan and India increased when India illegally imposed a strict curfew in IIOJK in August 2019. “Well, what I said in the statement you mentioned is, unfortunately, the same that I can say today. I mean, I do believe that it is absolutely essential to have a de-escalation of the situation, namely in the Line of [Control],”

“I think it’s absolutely essential for the two countries to be able to come together and seriously discuss their problems, and I think it’s essential that human rights are fully respected in all territories that you mentioned,” he said.