Pahalgam attack: UN chief Guterres urges India, Pakistan to exercise 'maximum restraint'
United Nations (PTI): UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is following the situation between India and Pakistan “very closely and with very great concern” and appeals to both governments to exercise maximum restraint and ensure no further deterioration, his spokesperson said.
“We were very clear in our condemnation of the terror attack that occurred in Jammu and Kashmir, on the 22nd, two days ago, which killed a large number of civilians,” Stephane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, said at the daily press briefing Thursday.
Dujarric was responding to a question on whether Guterres has had any contact with the governments of India and Pakistan amid escalating tensions in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 civilians were killed.
He said Guterres has not had any direct contact, “but I can tell you he's obviously following the situation very closely and with very great concern.”
The secretary-general “very much" appeals to both the governments of India and Pakistan to “exercise maximum restraint and to ensure that the situation and the developments we've seen do not deteriorate any further.
"Any issues between Pakistan and India, we believe can be and should be resolved peacefully, through meaningful, mutual engagement,” Dujarric said.
Terrorists opened fire near Kashmir’s Pahalgam town on Tuesday, killing 26 people, mostly tourists, in the deadliest attack in the Valley since the Pulwama strike in 2019.
India on Wednesday downgraded diplomatic ties with Pakistan and announced a raft of measures, including expulsion of Pakistani military attaches, suspension of the Indus Water Treaty of 1960 and immediate shutting down of the Attari land-transit post in view of the cross-border links to the horrific terror attack.
On India’s decision to suspend the Indus Water Treaty with Pakistan, Dujarric said “I think this would go under the rubric of us appealing for maximum restraint and not taking any actions that would deteriorate the situation further or increase tensions in a tense area.”
In a statement earlier this week, Guterres had strongly condemned the “armed attack” in Pahalgam.
He offered his heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families of the victims. “The Secretary-General stresses attacks against civilians are unacceptable under any circumstances,” Dujarric said.
Meanwhile, at another event hosted by India’s Permanent Mission to the UN, President of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly Philemon Yang said, “At the outset, I wish to convey my sincere condolences to the families of the victims of the recent attack in Jammu and Kashmir."
The targeting of civilians is unacceptable and cannot be justified under any circumstances, Yang said.
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Farmers in Chincholi demand better MSP, accuse sugar factory owners of not fulfilling assurance
Kalaburagi: Members of the Karnataka Prantha Raitha Sangha (KPRS) and the Taluk Raitha Hitarakshana Samiti protested outside the Siddasiri Ethanol Power Unit in Chincholi, demanding appropriate minimum support price (MSP) to sugarcane farmers in Chincholi.
Pointing out that it was decided at the meeting chaired by District In-charge Minister Priyank Kharge on November 15 to provide farmers an MSP of Rs 2,950 per tonne of sugarcane with an additional Rs 50 as support price from sugar factory owners, the protesting farmers also demanded that the decision be implemented.
“The Siddasiri sugar factory owner has violated the agreement by paying each farmer only Rs 2,550,” the farmers have alleged.
President of the KPRS Kalaburagi District Unit Sharanabasappa Mamashetti said, “When he opened the factory, legislator Basanagouda Patil Yatnal had assured that the factory would pay farmers in Kalaburagi an additional Rs 100, but has failed to live up to the word.”
The protesting farmers have demanded that the authorities concerned give priority to sugarcane farmers of Chincholi and Kalagi taluks to support the sugarcane crop. “Also, the factories should employ local youngsters and due measures should be taken to ensure the safety of the drivers of sugarcane transport vehicles,” they said.
They also handed their memorandum to Tahsildar Subbanna Jamakhandi and Power Ethanol Unit General Manager Dayananda Banagara.
The Tahsildar has assured that a meeting with the sugar factory owners would be held to discuss the issues raised by the farmers.
