UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is considering holding talks with officials from India and Pakistan on the deteriorating situation in Kashmir and will see how things can be improved on the ground.
“He will talk to different officials if it helps move the process along. That’s something that he is looking into,” Deputy Spokesman Fahan Haq said.
The spokesman was asked whether Guterres, who took over as UN chief in January, has come to any conclusion about how to deal with the situation in Kashmir – the disputed territory that has been the underlying cause of conflicts between the two South Asian powers.
“Beyond that, I have nothing new to say about the issue,” the spokesman added.
Tensions have been simmering between India and Pakistan since the summer of last year, when indigenous and spontaneous protests from Kashmiris was met with brutal use of force by the Indian security forces.
More than 100 people have been killed while another14,000 have sustained injuries during the uprising which erupted in July.
Indian forces also let loose a campaign of blinding the protesters. Around 750 people have sustained pellet injuries, with a majority of them on the verge of losing eyesight partially or completely.
At the United Nations, when questioned Friday if there is a timeline as to when the UN chief will talk to leaders from the two countries, Farhan Haq said as with any number of long-running situations, there are “a lot of complex issues” that need to be examined.
The UN chief “will look into the issue, and certainly, he will try to see what can be done to improve the situation on the ground,” Haq said.
Soon after assuming the office in January, the secretary-general offered to play a role of an honest broker between Pakistan and India amid escalating tensions between the two counties.
The UN chief made the offer during a meeting with Pakistan’s UN Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi, who gave him an extensive briefing on the situation in Kashmir.
