United Nations, May 15 (IANS) United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has commended India and Pakistan for taking steps to reduce tension when he took a phone call from Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, according to a UN spokesperson.
During the conversation, Guterres welcomed the “ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan and commended both sides for taking steps to reduce tensions,” his Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq said on Wednesday.
He added that they “exchanged views on possible next steps” and Guterres “reiterated the availability of his good offices”.
When they spoke, Guterres was in Berlin for the Ministerial Meeting on Peacekeeping.
This was Sharif’s third phone conversation with Guterres in two weeks.
With the ceasefire between India and Pakistan holding, “we’re in a better place,” United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Tuesday.
“We hope the ceasefire will continue to hold, and we hope that the parties will use this to deal with a lot of the outstanding issues between them,” he said at his briefing.
“The ceasefire is holding,” Dujarric said while responding to a Palestinian journalist’s statement critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserting that his speech on Monday indicated the ceasefire is “very fragile”.
To back his assertion, the journalist also quoted what he said was a Pakistani statement “to check this kind of tone by Indian Prime Minister”.
Dujarric added, “We’re in a better place than we were before.”
The understanding to end four days of conflict was reached on Saturday following a call from Pakistan’s Directorate General of Military Operations (DGMO) to the counterpart in India.
India launched targeted strikes on terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and the Kashmir territory it occupies last Wednesday in retaliation for last month’s massacre of 26 people in Pahalgam by The Resistance Front, an offshoot of the Lashkar-e-Toiba.
Islamabad launched attacks on India, leading to an escalation of the situation.
Soon after the understanding was announced, Guterres welcomed it “as a positive step toward ending current hostilities and easing tensions”.
Earlier on Tuesday, while the confrontation was building up, the United Nations Chief called for restraint saying, “The world cannot afford a military confrontation between India and Pakistan.”
–IANS
al/khz
Disclaimer
The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by BhaskarLive.in and while we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.
In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of this website.
Through this website you are able to link to other websites which are not under the control of BhaskarLive.in We have no control over the nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.
Every effort is made to keep the website up and running smoothly. However, BhaskarLive.in takes no responsibility for, and will not be liable for, the website being temporarily unavailable due to technical issues beyond our control.
For any legal details or query please visit original source link given with news or click on Go to Source.
Our translation service aims to offer the most accurate translation possible and we rarely experience any issues with news post. However, as the translation is carried out by third part tool there is a possibility for error to cause the occasional inaccuracy. We therefore require you to accept this disclaimer before confirming any translation news with us.
If you are not willing to accept this disclaimer then we recommend reading news post in its original language.
