ISLAMABAD: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday offered to mediate on Kashmir issue between Pakistan and India urging the two sides to engage in dialogue to deescalate tension. 

“I go on with the clear opinion that dialogue between India and Pakistan is an absolutely essential element for the solution of the problem,” Guterres said in a press conference at the outset of the 74th session of the General Assembly in New York.

He said that he would continue to advocate for a peaceful solution to Kashmir issue. However, he added that “our capacity is related to good offices, and good offices can only be implemented when the parties accept it.” 

Gueterres further stressed the need to respect human rights in Indian-administered Kashmir which is under strict security lockdown and communications blackout for the past six weeks now with businesses and schools closed and reports of the use of heavy force against civilians by the India security forces. 

“I go on with a clear opinion that human rights must be fully respected in the territory,” he said. 

Tensions heightened between Pakistan and India after New Delhi withdrew the special status of the part of disputed Kashmir under its administrative control deploying thousands of troops to control civilian agitation.

Islamabad has been extremely critical of the restrictions imposed by New Delhi in Indian-administered Kashmir and expelled the Indian envoy, cutting off all trade ties with its neighboring nuclear state, calling the action “unilateral” and a “violation of international law.”

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan is scheduled to address the UN General Assembly on September 27, where he has pledged to speak for the rights of Kashmiris.

Pakistan in recent weeks had also called for an international investigation into the situation and reports of human rights violations in the valley.