A thick plume of smoke in the sky in Riyadh on January 26, 2021. PHOTO/TWITTER
UN hopeful that India-China tensions can be dialled down through dialogue
New York: Responding to events over the weekend in Saudi Arabia where the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s forces intercepted an aerial attack headed towards its capital, Riyadh, the United Nations has strongly condemned all attacks targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure. On January 26 too, a loud explosion shook Riyadh which was three days after the kingdom intercepted a projectile over the Saudi capital. The missile was reportedly intercepted at 12.52pm local time on January 26, 2021.
“We remind all parties of the need to uphold international humanitarian law, including taking steps to protect civilians. All potential violations of international humanitarian law should be thoroughly investigated and those responsible for violations must be held accountable,”Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, said.
To a question whether the United Nations knew the origin of this weapon that was intercepted by Saudi Arabia last Saturday, Dujarric said it did not have that information. “We don’t have the forensic mandate or capacity to do that. So, we have… we know it happened. We know it needs to be condemned, but we have no information on where it could have come from,” he added.
It may be mentioned that in the past Saudi Arabia has faced repeated missile attacks from Houthi rebels in Yemen.
In the meantime, on reports of renewed India‑China border clashes, Dujarric said he hoped that through dialogue, the tensions that may exist along the border could be dialled down.
It may be mentioned that the New York Times on January 26, 2021 cited “Indian Army” in a report saying that soldiers on both sides were wounded in a “minor face-off” between Chinese and Indian troops last week in norther Sikkim. The newspaper stated that while Indian officials played down the latest clash, the Chinese officials were “even more tight-lipped”.
– global bihari bureau
