The US state department spokesperson Heather Nauert during her daily news conference on Wednesday said that the India and Pakistan need to sit and deescalate border tensions.
“We think that both sides would certainly have to sit down and have talks about that,” Nauert said this while responding to a question on what role the US can play to ease down the tensions between the two nuclear neighbouring countries. Earlier the Indio-Pak issue was also raked up by a top American general at the US Congress. While referring to CENTCOM’s Challenging Environment the US general said, “The enduring tension between the nuclear powers of India and Pakistan remains unreconciled”.
Earlier, the United Nations chief Antonio had asked India and Pakistan to address their outstanding issues through talks amidst heightened tensions along the border. The U.N. Secretary-General’s spokesman Stephane Dujarric said that in principle good offices of the U.N. chief are always available for mediation, but everyone needs to agree on involving the world body. “As in any issue… if there are multiple parties, everyone needs to agree on involving the U.N. That is true of any mediation effort,” Mr. Dujarric said.
“The Secretary-General would encourage both sides to address any outstanding issues through dialogue”, he said.
The escalating tensions on the LoC, ceasefire violations and skirmishes between Indian and Pakistani forces on the working-boundary have been, for all right reasons, a cause of serious concern for international community. It has been observed that whenever some gunshots are heard somewhere on the LoC, global and regional players, rights bodies and peace nicks, all of a sudden, get worried over the situation and start voicing their concerns but it is quite unfortunate that this ‘peace-loving community’ all over the world largely remains unmoved, unconcerned and indifferent to the situation inside Indian held territory of Jammu and Kashmir where blood of innocent civilians is spilled day in and day out without any rhyme and reason.
The world institutions and powerful governments do show their concern over rising tensions between India and Pakistan on the LoC but it is quite unfortunate that they ignore the decade’s long unresolved Kashmir dispute that happens to be the root cause of tension between the two countries. It is due to this lingering dispute that both the countries have fought wars. The unresolved Kashmir dispute has created insecurity and instability in the entire South Asia. No cosmetic measures or half-hearted moves can ever help bring peace in the region. It is time that the international community must shun this policy of indifference on the issue and play its pro-active role to resolve the long drawn conflict peacefully in accordance with the UN resolutions the way it had resolved other world disputes. As peace in South Asian region inescapably links to the settlement of this dispute that has been bedeviling relations between the two countries since its inception. Border skirmishes, ceasefire violations, shelling and killing of innocent civilians will continue unless the root cause of the tension is addressed.
