Kashmir issue between India and Pak should be resolved by peaceful means: UN chief's spokesperson

United Nations: A final settlement of the Kashmir issue should be reached by peaceful means under the UN Charter and full respect for human rights, a spokesperson for UN chief Antonio Guterres has said, recalling the 1972 Simla agreement between India and Pakistan which rejects any third-party mediation.

"Our position on Kashmir remains unchanged,” Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General, said at the daily press briefing here Wednesday.

India has repeatedly told Pakistan that the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh “was, is and shall forever” remain an integral part of the country.

The ties between the two countries nosedived after India abrogated Article 370 of the Constitution, revoking the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcating the State into two Union Territories on August 5, 2019.

Haq said this while responding to a question by a Palestinian journalist on the UN Secretary-General's position on Kashmir and the situation there five years after the abrogation of Article 370.

Haq said that the final settlement of the issue concerning Jammu and Kashmir "is to be reached by peaceful means in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and full respect for human rights.” He added that the position of the United Nations is governed by the charter of the United Nations and applicable Security Council resolutions.

"The Secretary-General also recalls the 1972 agreement on bilateral relations between India and Pakistan, also known as the Simla Agreement,” he said.

The Simla Agreement was signed by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and then Pakistan President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in 1972 and is a bilateral agreement between the countries and rejects any third-party mediation on the Kashmir issue.

The 1972 Simla agreement provides that the resolution of differences between the parties should be resolved by peaceful means and by bilateral negotiations.

India has repeatedly said it desires normal neighbourly relations with Pakistan in an environment free of terror, hostility and violence.