UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has reiterated his appeal that India and Pakistan should resolve the Kashmir issue via dialogue with full respect for human rights. Jammu and Kashmir was bifurcated on Thursday into two union territories, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, in accordance with the Indian government’s August 5 announcement scrapping the state’s special status under Article 370.
During a media briefing on Thursday, UN chief’s Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq said,”The UN chief has appealed to both India and Pakistan to deal with the issue through dialogue, and, as we’ve made clear and, particularly, as the High Commissioner for Human Rights has made clear, the situation in Kashmir can only be solved with full respect for human rights.”
During the General Assembly, the UN chief had said that dialogue between India and Pakistan is an ”absolute essential element” for resolving the Kashmir issue.
Since revocation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status, Pakistan has been trying to to internationalise the Kashmir issue but India has asserted that the emasculation of Article 370 was its “internal matter”. (UNI)
