UN Secretary General offers to mediate Kashmir dispute

The United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has offered to mediate between India and Pakistan following an apparent escalation of tensions over the disputed border region of Kashmir. Pakistan is denying claims Indian troops crossed the Line of Control that, since the 1940s, has divided the area into parts administered by the two nuclear-armed neighbours. As Preeti McCarthy reports, it comes as fighting forces thousands of local residents on the Indian side of the de-facto border to leave their homes.

A soldier stands guard near the Line of Control in Pakistani-administered Kashmir Source: Getty Images