Iran Urges India, Pakistan to Show Self-Restraint
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran on Tuesday called on India and Pakistan to exercise self-restraint and avoid violence for the settlement of their longstanding border dispute.
“We were informed of (border) disputes between India and Pakistan, and we call on both sides to (exercise) self-restraint,” Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyed Abbas Araqchi said in his weekly press conference in Tehran.
“We hope that this issue will be resolved through negotiation, dialogue and via peaceful methods,” Araqchi underscored.
The Iranian official’s remarks came after tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad escalated when the two neighboring countries started to exchange more gunfire across the disputed border in Kashmir.
Tensions along the 740-km Line of Control that divides Kashmir rose last week when an Indian army patrol was ambushed and five soldiers were killed in the Poonch region. New Delhi blamed the attack on the Pakistan army. Islamabad denied involvement.
India and Pakistan have fought three wars since their independence from Britain in 1947 -- two of them over Kashmir.
Thousands of people have been killed in the volatile region over the past 20 years.
