We welcome the consultations held at the UN Security Council on Jammu-Kashmir yesterday (16 August) under the title "India-Pakistan", with a view to de-escalating tension in the region and upholding diplomacy. We believe that the UN should play a more active role in resolving the issue within the framework of the resolutions it adopted earlier.

We reaffirm our hope that the issue will be resolved on the basis of international law and through dialogue between the relevant parties, and we call upon the parties to exercise restraint and to refrain from unilateral steps which may increase tension.