United Nations, Sept 12: Terming tensions between India and Pakistan as one of the "four threats" to world peace, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan today said if a fresh crisis erupts between the two countries, "the international community might have a role to play". In a speech prepared for delivery to the United Nations General Assembly later in the day, Annan also issued a veiled warning to the United States against acting alone against Iraq.
Besides Indo-Pak tension and Iraq, he also listed continuing instability in Afghanistan and the Israel-Palestinian conflict as the other threats in his address, the text of which was given to the US Ambassador to UN John Negroponte 11 hours ahead of its delivery.
He said the situation between India and Pakistan might now have calmed down but it remains "perilious" and if a fresh crisis were to erupt "the international community might have a role to play."
"The underlying causes must be addressed," he told the 190-member Assembly without elaborating. Bureau Report