UN chief appeals to India, Pakistan to deal with Kashmir issue through dialogue

As Jammu and
Kashmir transitioned from a state into two union territories, UN Secretary
General Antonio Guterres reiterated his appeal that India and Pakistan deal
with the Kashmir issue through dialogue and ensure full respect for human
rights.

Jammu and
Kashmir on Thursday transitioned from a state into union territories of Jammu
and Kashmir, and Ladakh, nearly three months after the NDA government abrogated
the state’s special status.

Asked about
the Secretary General’s comment as Jammu and Kashmir ceased to be a state, the
UN chief’s Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq during a media briefing on Thursday
said, “Well, just to reiterate our basic concerns that the Secretary General
has previously expressed his concerns about the situation in Kashmir. As you
know, he has met with representatives of India and Pakistan at their request to
discuss the situation.”

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.”

Tension
between India and Pakistan has escalated after the revocation of Jammu and
Kashmir’s special status.

Islamabad
has downgraded diplomatic ties with New Delhi and expelled the Indian High
Commissioner.

Pakistan has
been trying to internationalise the Kashmir issue but India has asserted that
the abrogation of Article 370 was its internal matter.

The two UTs
came into existence on the day of the birth anniversary of the country’s first
Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, who is credited for merger of over 560
states into the Union of India.

The August 5
decision by the Narendra Modi government to abrogate the special status given
to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 and its bifurcation into two Union
Territories was taken 72 years after the then ruler of the princely state,
Maharaja Hari Singh, executed the Instrument of Accession on October 26, 1947,
making it part of the Union of India.