UNITED Nations Urges India & Pakistan To Defuse Tensions

WITH pan India  angst  over the  dastardly  massacre of  49  security personnel  by a Pakistan based terrorist  outfit  in South Kashmir on February 14, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres  has called on the two neighbouring  nations to exercise “maximum restraint” and offered his mediation. Guterres’ spokesperson told reporters   that the UN is deeply concerned about the situation while offering to mediate if the two parties request. The head of the UN received on Wednesday the Pakistani ambassador, Maleeha Lodhi, whose government has asked the organization to intervene in the current crisis, Efe reported. For now, Guterres calls on both sides to “exercise maximum restraint and take immediate steps” to defuse the tension, spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.The  tensions between the two nuclear nations skyrocketed in recent days after New Delhi accused Islamabad of supporting the terrorist group that killed the troopers in a suicide bombing with a vehicle loaded with explosives..In addition, nine people, including five soldiers, were killed in a gunfight in the disputed Indian region of Kashmir on February 18.Rupert Colville, Spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), said Tuesday in Geneva that the UN was also saddened by the further loss of life reported from the gun battles in Pulwama on February 18.”We hope escalating tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours will not add further to the insecurity in the region” he said. Colville said the High Commissioner, Michelle Bachelet, is also concerned about reports from India that some people are using the Pulwama attack as justification for threats and potential acts of violence targeting Kashmiri and Muslim communities living in different parts of India.”We acknowledge actions taken by the Indian authorities to tackle these incidents and we hope that the Government will continue to take steps to protect people from all forms of harm that may be directed at them on account of their ethnicity or identity,” he stressed. Following the February 14 attack, India announced that it will take all possible diplomatic measures to isolate Pakistan from the international community. India’s Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has withdrawn Pakistan’s “most-favoured-nation” economic status and raised taxes on Pakistani imports by 200 per cent. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan warned India on Tuesday that his country would respond if attacked, a statement that was immediately condemned by the neighbouring country. India says the Pakistan based JeM has taken responsibility for the horrendous attack.Pak nationals are involved in the carnage conceived and executed from its soil. What more actionable evidence Pak PM Imran Khan needs for prosecuting the culprits?JeM is Pakistan Army’s offspring, says the Indian army( pic courtesy to printerest).