United Nations: Despite damage control efforts, a diplomatic feud rages over remarks that were put out by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon''s office last week, which called for calm in Kashmir and indicated support for the composite dialogue between India and Pakistan.
The UN appears to be backtracking on its position after India has registered a complaint that the remarks were unwarranted. India wanted the UN to distance itself from the remarks that it asserts are being used by separatists and Pakistan government to claim that the international community is on their side.
The UN communicated to the Indian government that the remarks were not a statement made by the Secretary General but a "press guidance that was taken out of context." Ban''s chief spokesperson Martin Nesirky said that this information was not a statement made by Ban but it was "information provided by the Secretariat (and) distributed by the spokesperson''s office."
Ban's associate spokesperson Farhan Haq, who is of Pakistani-origin, originally sent the information by e-mail to journalists, said that while this was not a statement made by Ban, "it was all generated by the UN."
Despite India's objections, Haq has maintained that the contents of the e-mail reflected the views of the UN chief. The nature of the remarks, however, does not sound like a "press guidance" and at this point the UN is struggling to resolve the situation without completely disowning its remarks.
The e-mail circulated by Haq had said that Ban was "concerned" over the prevailing security situation in Kashmir over the past one month and called on "all concerned to exercise utmost restraint and address problems peacefully."
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