During Call From Sharif, Guterres Commends India, Pakistan Efforts To Reduce Tensions: UN Spokesperson

(MENAFN- IANS) United Nations, May 15 (IANS) United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has commended India and Pakistan for taking steps to reduce tension when he took a phone call from Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, according to a UN spokesperson.

During the conversation, Guterres welcomed the "ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan and commended both sides for taking steps to reduce tensions," his Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq said on Wednesday.

He added that they "exchanged views on possible next steps" and Guterres "reiterated the availability of his good offices".

When they spoke, Guterres was in Berlin for the Ministerial Meeting on Peacekeeping.

This was Sharif's third phone conversation with Guterres in two weeks.

With the ceasefire between India and Pakistan holding, "we're in a better place," United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres's Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Tuesday.

"We hope the ceasefire will continue to hold, and we hope that the parties will use this to deal with a lot of the outstanding issues between them," he said at his briefing.

"The ceasefire is holding," Dujarric said while responding to a Palestinian journalist's statement critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserting that his speech on Monday indicated the ceasefire is "very fragile".

To back his assertion, the journalist also quoted what he said was a Pakistani statement "to check this kind of tone by Indian Prime Minister".

Dujarric added, "We're in a better place than we were before."

The understanding to end four days of conflict was reached on Saturday following a call from Pakistan's Directorate General of Military Operations (DGMO) to the counterpart in India.

India launched targeted strikes on terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and the Kashmir territory it occupies last Wednesday in retaliation for last month's massacre of 26 people in Pahalgam by The Resistance Front, an offshoot of the Lashkar-e-Toiba.

Islamabad launched attacks on India, leading to an escalation of the situation.

Soon after the understanding was announced, Guterres welcomed it "as a positive step toward ending current hostilities and easing tensions".

Earlier on Tuesday, while the confrontation was building up, the United Nations Chief called for restraint saying, "The world cannot afford a military confrontation between India and Pakistan."

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