New Delhi
India has rejected United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres’s offer for mediation on the Kashmir issue and said that “there is no role or scope for third party mediation”, The Hindu reported on Monday.
Guterres had made the offer a day earlier in Islamabad while speaking at a joint press conference with Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi. The UN chief had called for resolution to the Kashmir dispute by honouring resolutions of the UN Security Council.
Guterres offered his role as a mediator and said his “good offices” could be used for this purpose. Discussing relations between Pakistan and India, he stressed the need for de-escalation, both militarily and verbally. India rejected his offer for mediation late Sunday.
“The issue of [Jammu and Kashmir] that needs to be addressed is that of vacation of the territories illegally and forcibly occupied by Pakistan,” claimed Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar. “Further issues, if any, would be discussed bilaterally. There is no role or scope for third party mediation.”
Meanwhile, India summoned the Turkish ambassador on Monday to lodge a diplomatic protest over President Tayyip Erdogan’s remarks on Occupied Kashmir and warned it would have a bearing on bilateral ties.
India told Turkish envoy Sakir Ozkan Torunlar that Erdogan’s comments lacked any understanding of the history of the Kashmir dispute, the Indian foreign ministry said.
