‘Exercise maximum restraint’: UN tells India, Pakistan after Pahalgam terror attack

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is following the situation between India and Pakistan “very closely" and appeals to both governments to exercise maximum restraint, his spokesperson said on Friday.

The statement came after India and Pakistan announced a slew of measures against each other amid tensions over the Pahalgam terrorist attack that killed 26 people on April 22.

“We were very clear in our condemnation of the terror attack that occurred in Jammu and Kashmir, on the 22nd, two days ago, which killed a large number of civilians,” Stephane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, said at the daily press briefing Thursday.

He said Guterres is “obviously following the situation very closely and with very great concern”.

The spokesperson said the secretary-general “very much" appeals to both the governments of India and Pakistan to “exercise maximum restraint and to ensure that the situation and the developments we've seen do not deteriorate any further."

"Any issues between Pakistan and India, we believe can be and should be resolved peacefully, through meaningful, mutual engagement,” Dujarric said.

Terrorists opened fire near Kashmir’s Pahalgam town on Tuesday, killing 26 people, mostly tourists, in the deadliest attack in the Valley since the Pulwama strike in 2019.

Following the attack, India downgraded diplomatic ties with Pakistan and announced a raft of measures, including expulsion of Pakistani military attaches, suspension of the Indus Water Treaty of 1960 and immediate shutting down of the Attari land-transit post in view of the cross-border links to the horrific terror attack.

On India’s decision to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan, Dujarric said, “I think this would go under the rubric of us appealing for maximum restraint and not taking any actions that would deteriorate the situation further or increase tensions in a tense area.”

In a statement earlier this week, Guterres had strongly condemned the “armed attack” in Pahalgam.

He offered his heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families of the victims. “The Secretary-General stresses attacks against civilians are unacceptable under any circumstances,” Dujarric was quoted by news agency ANI as saying.

Meanwhile, at another event hosted by India’s Permanent Mission to the UN, President of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly Philemon Yang said, “At the outset, I wish to convey my sincere condolences to the families of the victims of the recent attack in Jammu and Kashmir."

The targeting of civilians is unacceptable and cannot be justified under any circumstances, Yang said.

(With inputs from agencies)