India Rejects UN Chief's Offer To Mediate On Kashmir Issue

United Nations Chief Antonio Guterres is on a four-day visit to PakistanHe said he was ready to help if both countries agreed for mediation'There is no role or scope for third-party mediation', India said in its response

UN chief Antonio Guterres/ Image courtesy: PTI

New Delhi: India on Sunday dismissed the offer of mediation on Kashmir issue made by United Nations Chief Antonio Guterres who is on a four-day visit to Pakistan. India maintained that the real issue needed to be addressed is to vacate territories illegally and forcibly" occupied by Pakistan. The assertion by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) came after Guterres said in Islamabad that he was concerned over the situation in Kashmir, and that he was ready to mediate between India and Pakistan to resolve the long-pending issue. MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said Jammu and Kashmir is and will continue to be an integral part of India and hoped that the UN secretary-general would press Pakistan to take credible and irreversible action to stop cross-border terrorism against India. "India's position has not changed. Jammu and Kashmir has been, is, and will continue to be an integral part of India. The issue that needs to be addressed is that of vacation of the territories illegally and forcibly occupied by Pakistan," Kumar said. "Further issues, if any, would be discussed bilaterally. There is no role or scope for third-party mediation," he said. Addressing a press conference after his meeting with Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in Islamabad, the UN secretary general said he was "deeply concerned" over the situation in Jammu and Kashmir and tensions along the Line of Control. Guterres said it was important for India and Pakistan to de-escalate "militarily and verbally" and exercise "maximum restraint" on the Kashmir issue. He said he was ready to help if both countries agreed for mediation. Guterres had said that the Security Council resolutions on Kashmir have to implemented – and although he did not make a reference to it, the main resolution requires Pakistan to withdraw from the areas it occupies. Guterres, who is on a visit to Pakistan, said at a news conference in Islamabad on Sunday according to a transcript released here, that: "It is clear that we have taken a position about the need for Security Council resolutions to be implemented and for effective de-escalation and dialogue linked to that, with another very important condition, which is full respect for human rights and (fundamental) freedoms in Jammu and Kashmir." Security Council Resolution 47 adopted on April 21, 1948, requires the Pakistani government "to secure the withdrawal from the State of Jammu and Kashmir of tribesmen and Pakistani nationals not normally resident therein who have entered the State for the purpose of fighting, and to prevent any intrusion into the State of such elements and any furnishing of material aid to those fighting in the State". Although Pakistanis and their supporters elsewhere cite the Security Council asking for a plebiscite to be held in Kashmir, they ignore the precondition of Pakistan's withdrawal from the occupied areas. Guterres began a three-day visit to Pakistan, his first as Secretary General, on Sunday to participate in an international conference of 40 years of Pakistan hosting Afghan refugees. During the trip, he is scheduled to visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartapur, which gives direct access to pilgrims from India through a special corridor inaugurated last year. (with inputs from agencies)