By David Brunnstrom and Kanishka Singh
(Reuters) -United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was very concerned about Indian attacks in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, his spokesperson said on Tuesday while calling for maximum military restraint from both nuclear-armed Asian neighbors.
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT
Guterres said earlier this week even before India’s military actions that tensions between India and Pakistan were “at their highest in years” after an April 22 Islamist militant attack in India-administered Kashmir in which 26 people were killed and which the U.N. chief condemned as an “awful terror attack.”
India attacked Pakistan and Pakistani Kashmir on Wednesday Asia time and late Tuesday U.S. time, while Pakistan said it had shot down some Indian fighter jets in the worst fighting in more than two decades between the countries.
KEY QUOTES
“The Secretary-General is very concerned about the Indian military operations across the Line of Control and international border. He calls for maximum military restraint from both countries,” the U.N. chief’s spokesperson said on Tuesday.
“The world cannot afford a military confrontation between India and Pakistan.”
EARLIER COMMENTS
“Tensions between India and Pakistan are at their highest in years. I strongly condemn the awful terror attack in Pahalgam on 22 April. It is essential – especially at this critical hour – that India and Pakistan avoid a military confrontation that could easily spin out of control,” Guterres said on Monday.
Late last month, Guterres spoke separately with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shebaz Sharif and India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and offered to support de-escalation efforts, his spokesperson said.
CONTEXT
Muslim-majority Kashmir is claimed in full by both Hindu-majority India and Islamic Pakistan, with each controlling only part of it and having fought wars over it.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh and David Brunnstrom in Washington; Editing by Leslie Adler and Michael Perry)
