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Ban still ready to use 'good offices' for India-Pakistan rapprochement
Ban
still ready to use 'good offices' for India-Pakistan rapprochement
United Nations, April 30 Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is still available
to use his "good offices" to help India and Pakistan resolve their
differences if asked by both countries, according to his deputy spokesman
Farhan Haq.
"That offer has already been on the table if both parties want it,
"Haq told reporters Wednesday. "So if both parties want it, we are
available."
India has opposed any third-party involvement in its dealings with Pakistan,
especially on Kashmir.
Haq's statement made in response to a reporter's question was only a
reiteration of Ban's offer made last September after his meeting with Pakistan
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
The reporter quoted Sharif's assertion in an interview to the Saudi Gazette
during his visit to Saudi Arabia last week that Pakistan's "desire for
good neighborly relations with India has not been reciprocated" and asked
if Ban would renew his "good offices" offer.
India cancelled talks with Pakistan scheduled for last August after its high
commissioner in New Delhi, Abdul Basit, met with Kashmiri separatists.
However, Foreign Secretary Subrahmanyam Jaishankar visited Islamabad last month
and met with his Pakistani counterpart Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhury.
Jaishankar called the meeting a sign of India's "determination to forge a
cooperative relationship with Pakistan."