Need for dialogue to solve Kashmir issue: UN chief

UN chief Ban Ki-moon is closely following the situation in Kashmir and stresses on the need for dialogue to help to overcome difficulties, his spokesperson said here.

United Nations: In the wake of tensions in Kashmir following the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, UN chief Ban Ki-moon is closely following the situation in the region and stresses on the need for dialogue to help to overcome difficulties, his spokesperson said here.

"The Secretary-General is obviously following developments quite closely. And we would simply reiterate the call for the need for dialogue to help to overcome the difficulties that there are," Ban`s spokesperson Martin Nesirky told reporters at the daily briefing yesterday. Nesirky was responding to a question on developments in Kashmir, where curfew has been imposed and three persons have been killed and several injured in clashes between protesters and law enforcement agencies following the hanging of Guru. Nesirky said he did not have any specific comment on the execution of Guru. When asked that there is a "humanitarian aspect" to the hanging of Guru since his body has not been given to his family, Nesirky said, "I don’t have any comment on that." Guru was hanged in New Delhi`s Tihar jail on February 9 after his mercy plea was rejected by the President. PTI