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| June 5, 2002 | Wednesday | Rabi-ul-Awwal 23,1423 |
Iran offers mediation to end tension
TEHRAN, June 4: Iran has offered to mediate in the crisis between India and Pakistan, urging both countries not to pour fuel on the flames of their dispute, the Iranian news agency IRNA reported on Tuesday.
It quoted Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi as telling his Pakistan counterpart Abdul Sattar in a telephone conversation late Monday that “the Islamic republic of Iran lays great importance on the security and stability of the region and is proposing its mediation.”
Iran is “prepared to maintain permanent contact with India and Pakistan to avoid any escalation in the crisis,” added Kharazi, who last month visited Islamabad and New Delhi calling for restraint.
Iran, which wants to supply India with natural gas via a pipeline through Pakistan, has good relations with both countries, while backing the self-determination of disputed Kashmir.
MAHATHIR: Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad called on Monday for third party intervention to help avert war between nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan.
“We don’t agree with war, we don’t approve of confrontational methods. So I appeal to them (India and Pakistan) to negotiate.
“And if it cannot be resolved between the two of them, there should be a third party that can help make the decisions,” said Mahathir, declining to say who would be most appropriate for the role of a mediator.
“It could be the United States, Russia or even the United Nations.”
Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar had said Malaysia was following with great concern the escalating tension between the two countries over the disputed Kashmir region.
UAE: The Council of UAE Ministers has appealed to both India and Pakistan to maintain self-restraint and wisdom and defuse rising tension between them, according to UAE official News Agency WAM.
In a statement issued after an ordinary session chaired by His Highness Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Duabi, here on Monday, the UAE cabinet expressed great concern over dangerous escalation of tension between the two nuclear neighbors.
“The UAE pleads with the two countries to maintain self-restraint and wisdom in solving the present crisis, and defuse rising tension between them through dialogue and negotiations on the basis of solving problems and conflicts via peaceful means for the sake of their mutual interests and security and stability of the whole region,” the statement said.
The UAE calls on the UN and the international community, specifically the big powers, to exert every effort possible to prevent explosion of the tense situation in South Asia and bring India and Pakistan together in order to settle differences and de-escalate tension between them through peaceful means.
The statement voiced the UAE’s preparedness to exert every effort possible in order to bridge the gap between the two sides in such a way that would preserve security and stability in the region.—AFP/APP
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