UN chief situation closely, asks India, Pak to exercise "maximum restraint"

UN chief Antonio Guterres is following the situation between India and Pakistan "very closely" and has appealed to the governments of both nations to exercise "maximum restraint" to ensure the situation does not deteriorate further, a top UN official said Tuesday.

The UN Secretary General's remarks came after Indian Air Force (IAF) carried out a pre-dawn air strike on a terror training camp inside Pakistan.

The strike was the first by the IAF inside Pakistan after the 1971 war.

India bombed and destroyed Jaish-e-Mohammed's (JeM) biggest training camp in Balakot in Pakistan's restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, about 80-km from the Line of Control (LoC) early Tuesday, killing a "very large number" of terrorists, trainers and senior commanders.

"He is obviously following the situation very closely and reiterates his urgent appeal to both the governments of India and the government of Pakistan to exercise maximum restraint to ensure that the situation does not further deteriorate," UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters when asked about the Secretary General's remarks on the air strike.

Dujarric said Guterres did not have any information on the possible casualties and has seen the news reports.

Guterres is returning to New York from Geneva and Dujarric said he had spoken to the UN chief about the situation between India and Pakistan before he boarded his plane.

The air strike came 12 days after the JeM carried out a suicide attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district that killed 40 CRPF soldiers.

India launched a major diplomatic offensive against Islamabad after the Pulwama attack and highlighted Pakistan's role in using terrorism as an instrument of state policy.

The international community led by the US pressed Pakistan to deny safe haven to terror groups operating form its soil and bring the perpetrators of the Pulwama attack to justice.

India has asked Pakistan to take immediate and verifiable action against terrorists and terror groups operating from territories under its control.

New Delhi also announced the withdrawal of the Most Favoured Nation status for Pakistan and hiked the customs duty by 200 per cent on goods originating from Pakistan.