UN Secretary General welcomes India, Pakistan ceasefire announcement

UN Secretary General welcomes India, Pakistan ceasefire announcement

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Saturday welcomed “all efforts to de-escalate the conflict”, as India and Pakistan agreed to an immediate ceasefire.

“We are monitoring but we welcome all efforts to de-escalate the conflict,” Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General, told PTI here.

The US-brokered ceasefire came hours after India and Pakistan attacked each other’s military facilities, dangerously escalating the ongoing conflict.

Earlier, US President Donald Trump said India and Pakistan have agreed to a “full and immediate” ceasefire after a “long night” of talks mediated by Washington.

“After a long night of talks mediated by the United States, I am pleased to announce that India and Pakistan have agreed to a FULL AND IMMEDIATE CEASEFIRE. Congratulations to both Countries on using Common Sense and Great Intelligence. Thank you for your attention to this matter,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that over the past 48 hours, Vice President J D Vance and he engaged with senior Indian and Pakistani officials, “including Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Shehbaz Sharif, External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Chief of Army Staff Asim Munir, and National Security Advisors Ajit Doval and Asim Malik.” “I am pleased to announce the Governments of India and Pakistan have agreed to an immediate ceasefire and to start talks on a broad set of issues at a neutral site,” he said.

“We commend Prime Ministers Modi and Sharif on their wisdom, prudence, and statesmanship in choosing the path of peace,” Rubio said.

“India and Pakistan have today worked out an understanding on stoppage of firing and military action,” External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said in a social media post.

The announcement came days after India carried out Operation Sindoor striking nine terror infrastructures in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir to avenge the Pahalgam attack. Since the operation, Pakistan targetted various Indian military installations without success.