Exercise ‘ maximum restraint’: Ban
New Delhi: The UN on Tuesday jumped into the Kashmir fray, with UN chief Ban Kimoon expressing regret over the loss of lives and injuries in the clashes in Kashmir and calling on all parties to exercise “maximum restraint”. The US said Kashmir is India’s internal matter.
The United Nations on Tuesday jumped into the Kashmir fray, with UN chief Ban Ki- moon expressing regret over the loss of lives and injuries in the clashes in Kashmir and calling on all parties to exercise “maximum restraint”, even as the United States — which now has very close ties with India — described Kashmir as “an internal matter of India”, but added it was concerned at the violence there.
Pakistan, however, sought to escalate its diplomatic spat with India, with the Pakistani foreign secretary complaining to ambassadors of the US, UK, France, Russia and China about the situation in Kashmir and accusing India of excessive use of force. Kashmir has seen violent protests by demonstrators against the killing of terrorist Burhan Wani by the Indian security forces.
The US described Kashmir as ‘ an internal matter of India’, but added it was concerned at the violence there
At the UN, a statement issued by Mr Ban’s spokesperson said, “The Secretary- General is closely following the recent clashes in Kashmir. He regrets the reported loss of dozens of lives and the injuries to many others.” The statement said her “calls on all parties to exercise maximum restraint to avoid further violence and hopes that all concerns would be addressed through peaceful means”.
Mr Ban’s spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the reports of the clashes in Kashmir, in which at least 23 people have been killed so far and over 250 injured, “are of concern to us”. Ms Dujarric was further quoted by news agencies, as saying, “I think no one is denying that we are concerned about the situation in Kashmir. The fact that the Secretary General did not raise it as he did not raise many other critical situations around the wor- ld does not mean that he is brushing anything aside.”
Describing Kashmir as an internal matter, the US said it is concerned over the violence and asked all stakeholders to make efforts towards finding a peaceful resolution to the situation in the Valley.