UN again offers good offices for India-Palk talks

UNITED NATIONS: The UN has reaffirmed that the "good offices" of Secretary-General Antonio Guterres were available for helping in bringing India and Pakistan together to resolve differences if it was acceptable to them. "As you know, about the question of good offices, good offices are available to all parties if they mutually agree to this. So, that's the case in this situation as in every other situation," Guterres' deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said here yesterday at a daily press briefing.
Haq made the remarks when asked if the Secretary-General will use his good offices for India and Pakistan as tensions increase between the two South Asian neighbours.
On mediation being not acceptable to India, Haq reiterated that that the "very nature of the principle of good offices is that the parties themselves need to be willing to accept it."
Last week, Guterres' spokesperson Stephane Dujarric had said the UN chief is watching the rising tensions between India and Pakistan very closely and reiterates the need for the South Asian neighbours to find a peaceful solution through engagement and dialogue.
Dujarric had asserted that the Secretary General is not reluctant to focus on the issue.
The UN chief has not made any direct intervention to resolve the issue and his spokesperson has repeatedly said Guterres reiterates his call for India and Pakistan to find a peaceful solution through engagement and dialogue to resolve the Kashmir issue.