Guterres calls India, Pakistan ceasefire agreement 'positive step' towards lasting peace (Ld)

United Nations, May 11 (IANS) United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres sees the ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan as a "positive step" towards easing tensions and hopes it will contribute to "lasting peace," according to his Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric.

Guterres "welcomes the ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan as a positive step toward ending current hostilities and easing tensions," Dujarric said on Saturday.

"He hopes the agreement will contribute to lasting peace and foster an environment conducive to addressing broader, long-standing issues between the two countries," he added.

Dujarric said, "The United Nations stands ready to support efforts aimed at promoting peace and stability in the region."

India and Pakistan announced on Saturday a ceasefire in the four-day conflict that pushed limits by launching attacks beyond Kashmir into other areas in both countries.

It began on Wednesday when India struck "terrorist infrastructures" in retaliation against the massacre of 26 people in the Kashmir tourist spot Pahalgam last month by The Resistance Front, an offshoot of the Pakistan-based terrorist group Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT).

While the tension was mounting last week, Guterres had expressed deep concern over the conflict, saying, "The world cannot afford a military confrontation between India and Pakistan."

He repeatedly asked for de-escalating the conflict, including by holding a meeting with reporters exclusively on the subject.

Guterres spoke to India's External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif last month to convey his deep concern over the rising tensions.

While many international leaders, including the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, were calling both Indian and Pakistani leaders to de-escalate the conflict, Guterres' Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq said on Thursday, "We encourage all efforts to de-escalate the situation."

Guterres has condemned the terrorist massacre in the strongest terms several times.

He said, "Targeting civilians is unacceptable -- and those responsible must be brought to justice through transparent, credible, and lawful means."

Guterres offered his good wishes to find a solution to the crisis, but ultimately it was the US that played the crucial diplomatic role.

At the request of Pakistan, the UN Security Council held a closed-door consultation on Monday on the situation with a briefing by Assistant Secretary-General Mohamed Khaled Khiari.

But it did not meet formally in an open session about the conflict.

Soon after the Pahalgam massacre, the Council issued a press statement expressing its unanimous view condemning the attack with Pakistan, an elected member, acceding to it.

It "condemned in the strongest terms" the Pahalgam terrorist attack and urged all countries to cooperate in bringing all those involved in the massacre to justice.

--IANS

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