India, Pak should resolve differences through talks: UN

UN chief Ban Ki-moon's spokesperson has underlined the need for India and Pakistan to resolve their differences through dialogue, while refusing to comment on comparisons between Kashmir, the unrest in Syria and war-like situation between the two Asian neighbours.

The Secretary-General's spokesperson Stephane Dujarric was asked by a Pakistani reporter if the UN chief would talk to the leaders of India and Pakistan and offer his good offices during the current atmosphere of escalating tensions and with "Pakistan and India are now getting ready to go to war". 

The scribe also drew a comparison between the situation in Kashmir with that in Syria. "Without commenting on the comparison you make, obviously, I think you've seen what we've already said on the situation in Kashmir. I have nothing to add to what we've already said and what already stands," he said on Wednesday.

He stressed that the UN is aware of the situation in Kashmir and "our position on good offices and the current situation remains the same, and I would refer you to what we've been saying the last couple of weeks." 

On head of UN Human Rights Commission Zeid Ra'ad Al-Hussein, asking India and Pakistan to allow his team to visit the region and whether Ban will ask the two nations to "ratchet down the war rhetoric", Dujarric said "in a recent statement, I think we've stated clearly our position on the situation between those two countries." 

Ban’s office has repeatedly said the UN Chief’s "good offices" are available on helping resolve the Kashmir dispute only if both India and Pakistan request for it, a clear message that the Kashmir issue is a bilateral one between the two nations and should be solved by them only.