US backs India, warns Pakistan
The United Nations yesterday urged India and Pakistan to exercise restraint after New Delhi carried out a series of strikes inside Pakistani-controlled Kashmir.
"The United Nations calls on the government of India and Pakistan to exercise restraint and encourage them to continue their efforts to resolve their differences peacefully and through dialogue," said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
UN officials are following the increase in tensions in Kashmir "with great concern", said Dujarric, adding that UN military observers were in contact with both sides to try to obtain further information.
A day earlier before the surgical strikes, the Obama administration affirmed its support to India on the issue of cross-border terrorism, while putting Pakistan on notice for its failure to act against UN-designated terrorists and entities.
US National Security Adviser Susan Rice spoke to her Indian counterpart Ajit Doval to offer condolences to families of the Uri attack victims and express support for India on the issue of terrorism, National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said in a read-out on the call.
Although the statement did not explicitly pin the Uri attack on Pakistan, there was a broad censure of Islamabad for continuing to harbour proscribed terrorists and terrorist outfits, with a pledge that Washington would "deepen collaboration on counterterrorism matters including on UN terrorist designations."
"Highlighting the danger that cross-border terrorism poses to the region, Ambassador Rice reiterated our expectation that Pakistan take effective action to combat and delegitimise United Nations-designated terrorist individuals and entities, including Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Muhammad, and their affiliates," the statement said. India has blamed Jaish operatives for the Uri attack.
Also on Wednesday, China called on Pakistan and India to solve their differences over Kashmir through dialogue.
The deputy minister, Liu Zhenmin, also told the envoys that China values Pakistan's position on Kashmir.
China has long been a strong diplomatic, military and economic supporter of Pakistan, and the two call each other “all-weather friends”. Their ties have been underpinned by wariness of their common neighbour, India, with which China fought a brief but bloody border war in 1962.
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