NEW YORK: Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon has expressed his concerns over escalation in tensions at the Line of Control and urged Pakistan and India to resolve all outstanding issues through dialogue. UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric, in a media briefing said, “United Nations is keeping a vigilant eye on escalation of tensions at LoC. Ban Ki-moon has appealed to Pakistan and India to resolve their outstanding issues through dialogue,” the spokesman for the world body added.
On Monday, three Pakistani civilians were martyred and five others wounded in Indian shelling across the disputed border with Pakistan in the Himalayan region of Kashmir, Pakistani officials said, as tension simmers between the nuclear-armed neighbours. Feelings have run high since July, when Indian security forces killed a young Kashmiri fighter in Indian-occupied Kashmir, prompting months of protests and a corresponding security crackdown that has claimed more than 80 lives.
Tension built further in September, when 18 Indian soldiers were killed at an army base in Indian-occupied Kashmir, in an attack Delhi blamed on Pakistan-based militants. Pakistan denied that it was involved in that attack. Last week, both countries expelled each others’ diplomats, and named a number of others as being involved in spying. Violations of a 2003 ceasefire on the de facto border have regularly occurred in the last two months.
