Antonio Guterres urges India & Pakistan to exercise ‘maximum military restraint’

New Delhi: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday urged India and Pakistan to exercise “maximum military restraint,” emphasising that the world cannot afford a military confrontation between the two nations.

Guterres expressed concern over Indian military operations across the Line of Control and the international border, calling for de-escalation.

The statement, made by Guterres’ spokesman Stéphane Dujarric, followed India’s launch of ‘Operation Sindoor’ targeting nine sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

The operation aimed at neutralising terrorist infrastructure linked to attacks on India, including the recent Pahalgam attack that claimed 25 Indian and one Nepali lives.

Earlier, the Indian Army said that it has hit nine locations deep inside Pakistan in retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack.

“A little while ago, the Indian Armed Forces launched ‘Operation Sindoor’, hitting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir from where terrorist attacks against India have been planned and directed,” the army in a press release said.

The Indian Army also posted on its official X handle, “Justice is Served. Jai Hind.”

“Altogether, nine (9) sites have been targeted. Our actions have been focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature. No Pakistani military facilities have been targeted. India has demonstrated considerable restraint in the selection of targets and the method of execution,” the army said.

It added that these steps come in the wake of the barbaric Pahalgam terrorist attack in which 25 Indians and one Nepali citizen were murdered.

“We are living up to the commitment that those responsible for this attack will be held accountable. There will be a detailed briefing on ‘Operation Sindoor’, later today,” the army said.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General, Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, also confirmed the strike on his country.

“The missile strikes were fired by India at Kotli, Bahwalpur and Muzaffarabad in a cowardly attack amid intense tensions between the two countries in the wake of a militant attack in occupied Kashmir,” the Pakistan army confirmed.

The tension between the two nuclear nations comes in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 civilians were killed, mostly tourists.

–IANS