UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has urged India and Pakistan to take immediate steps to de-escalate tensions in the region and offered to act as a mediator to help the nuclear-armed neighbours resolve their disputes.
"The Secretary-General is deeply concerned over the significant increase in tensions between India and Pakistan in the wake of the recent developments, in particular the reported cease-fire violations along the Line of Control (LoC) following an attack on an Indian army base in Uri on September 18," a statement issued by Ban's spokesperson said here yesterday.
The statement said the UN Chief urges both sides to "exercise maximum restraint" and take "immediate steps to de-escalate the situation".
Ban said his good offices are available, "if accepted by both sides", as he called on the Governments of Pakistan and India to address their outstanding issues, including Kashmir, "peacefully through diplomacy and dialogue."
India conducted surgical strikes on the intervening night of September 28 and 29, targeting terror launch pads across the Line of Control.
The strike came just days after the attack by Pakistan-based terror outfit JeM on an Indian army camp in Uri in Kashmir that killed 18 jawans.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that the attackers would not go "unpunished" and the sacrifice of the jawans would not be in vain.
The UN has long maintained an institutional presence in the contested area between India and Pakistan.
According to the Security Council mandate given in resolution 307 of 1971, the UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) observes and reports on ceasefire violations along and across the Line of Control and the working boundary between the South Asian neighbours in Jammu and Kashmir, as well as reports developments that could lead to ceasefire violations.
India has however always maintained that UNMOGIP has "outlived its relevance" and has "no role to play whatsoever".
Pak briefs P5 envoys over LoC, Kashmir issue
Meanwhile, Pakistan has briefed envoys from the P5 states of the UN Security Council on the situation along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Foreign Office spokesman said envoys from the US, Russia, China, France and Britain were briefed on fresh violations of the ceasefire agreement by Indian forces along the LoC.
The envoys were also apprised of Indian "atrocities and gross human rights abuses" in New Delhi-governed Jammu and Kashmir.
The briefing to the envoys came amid the growing tension between Pakistan and India.
With Agency Inputs
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