UNGA president concerned over situation between India, Pakistan

UN General Assembly President Maria Fernanda Espinosa is following with "great concern" the situation between India and Pakistan and calls on both sides to seek dialogue to avoid an escalation of tensions, her spokesperson said. 

Espinosa’s spokesperson Monica Grayley said the UNGA President stresses that the use of "diplomatic means is basically the best way to settle political differences, to settle political disputes" and hopes that the relevant parties can resolve the current situation through peaceful means. 

The President of the General Assembly is "actually following with great concern the latest reports on the situation between India and Pakistan,” told reporters Thursday during her press briefing. 

Espinosa, who had visited India before assuming office last year and had made a trip to Pakistan in January this year, “asks for both sides right now to seek dialogue to avoid an escalation of tensions but also to avoid further tragic loss of life." 

Several international leaders too have expressed concern over the escalating tensions between the two nuclear-armed South Asian neighbors, calling for restraint and need for dialogue. 

Former UN Deputy Secretary-General and Foreign Minister of Sweden Jan Eliasson tweeted that the conflict between India and Pakistan is "potentially suicidal. Heavy responsibility on their leaders to calm down and de-escalate the situation and to open up to diplomacy and back-channel contacts. Such efforts should be strongly supported by the outside world. The fuse is short.” 

The Elders, a group of independent leaders founded by late South African President, also called on the leaders of India and Pakistan to take urgent steps to defuse military and political tensions and to refrain from further “bellicose rhetoric” and pursue a path of meaningful dialogue. 

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