Pak. welcomes UN chief's mediation offer with India over Kashmir issue

Islamabad, July 14 (ANI): Pakistan on Thursday welcomed United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's offer to mediate peace talks with India amid ongoing protests in Kashmir valley which has claimed over 30 lives. "It is the UN's responsibility to intervene in the matter and get the issue resolved," the Dawn quoted Foreign Office Spokesman Nafees Zakaria, as saying. He added that the body should play its role in order to get UN resolutions implemented. Stephane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General said that Ban Ki-moon was following the situation carefully. "I think he regretted the loss of life and calls on all the parties to exercise restraint. And I think the Secretary-General has always welcomed any direct discussions on the situation between India and Pakistan. And the Secretary-General's good offices on any issues is a standing offer for anything that is going on, but good offices work when two parties both ask for the good offices, " he added. Zakaria rejected the Indian government's view that ongoing unrest in Kashmir is an 'internal' matter. "Jammu and Kashmir is not an internal matter of India, it's a recognised issue under the United Nations," he added. More than 30 people have been killed and several others injured, with both people and security forces turning hostile in protest-related violence in the Kashmir Valley, after Kashmiris took to the streets to condemn the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Muzaffar Wani. (ANI)