India rejects any mediation with Pak on Kashmir issue

22 June, New Delhi

India Thursday rejected any overtures by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to mediate between India and Pakistan for initiating a dialogue on the vexed Kashmir issue. ”Bilateral matters have to be solved bilaterally,” External Affairs spokesperson Gopal Baglay said while answering a question on reports quoting UN Secretary-General on his efforts to mediate between India and Pakistan.

He said the UN Secretary-General has been made aware of India’s consistent position. Asked by a reporter about his role in resolving the vexed dispute at his first press conference at the United Nations headquarters, Guterres responded: ”Why do you think I met three times the Prime Minister of Pakistan and two times the Prime Minister of India?””For someone accused of doing nothing, it’s quite a number of meetings,” he had laughed off the question.

The spokesperson said the UN Secretary-General had posed a question while responding to a query. Guterres had mentioned that he had met Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Nawaz Sharif but did not categorically state that he was mediating to begin a dialogue between the two neighbours on the Kashmir issue.

India has time and again opposed involvement of a third party in resolving bilateral issues with Pakistan, particularly on Kashmir.