United Nations: UN chief Antonio Guterres has recalled the Simla Agreement of 1972, a bilateral agreement between India and Pakistan that rejects third-party mediation in Kashmir after Islamabad asked him to play his "due role" following New Delhi's decision to revoke Jammu and Kashmir's special status.
Guterres' spokesman Stephane Dujarric said at the daily press briefing that the Secretary General has been following the situation in Jammu and Kashmir "with concern and makes an appeal for maximum restraint".
The Secretary-General also "recalls the 1972 Agreement on bilateral relations between India and Pakistan, also known as the Simla Agreement, which states that the final status of Jammu and Kashmir is to be settled by peaceful means, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations.”
The emphasis by the UN Chief on the Simla Agreement, that states that Kashmir is a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan and does away with any third-party mediation, comes just a day after Pakistan's envoy to the UN Maleeha Lodhi met Guterres' Chef de Cabinet Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti asking the Secretary General to "play his due role" following India's decision on Monday to revoke Article 370.
By Yoshita Singh
