U.N. Urges India, Pakistan to Take Immediate Steps to Defuse Tensions

U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday called on India and Pakistan to take immediate steps to defuse tensions and offered to help broker a solution if both sides agree to U.N. mediation.

Pakistan and India have been locked in a diplomatic clash following a suicide attack on February 14 in Kashmir that killed 40 Indian security forces, triggering counter-operations by Indian forces in the area.

"We are deeply concerned at the increasing tensions between the two countries," said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

Guterres "stresses the importance of both sides to exercise maximum restraint and take immediate steps to de-escalation" while also offering to mediate "should both sides ask", said Dujarric.

Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi appealed to Guterres to step in to defuse tensions, in a letter seen by AFP.

"It is imperative to take steps for de-escalation. The United Nations must step in to defuse tensions," said the letter sent on Monday.

The attack was claimed by Pakistan-based Islamist group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) but the foreign minister insisted that "attributing it to Pakistan even before investigations is absurd."

In response to the rising tensions, France was considering a new push at the Security Council to place Masood Azhar, the leader of JeM on the U.N. terror list, but faced opposition from China, diplomats said.

Kashmir has been split between India and Pakistan since independence from Britain in 1947. Both countries claim the former Himalayan kingdom in full and have fought two wars over it.

India has long accused Pakistan of harboring militants who launch attacks on its soil.