Pakistan seeks emergency meet of UNSC on Kashmir after its failure to get world support

After failing to garner international support against India on its move to revoke Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, which gives special status to Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan has formally called for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said.

In a video message, Qureshi said that he had sent a formal letter to the president of the UNSC through Permanent Representative Maleha Lodhi to convene the meeting.

Pakistan’s foreign minister said that letter will be shared with all members of the UNSC.

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“I have requested in the letter that a special meeting of the Security Council should be called to discuss those actions of India which we consider as illegal and against the UN resolutions,” he said.

Terming India’s actions in Kashmir as a threat to the regional peace, Qureshi said that the decision to call for the UNSC meeting was taken in the meeting of high-profile National Security Committee meeting held last week.

“It is a mistake on part of India if it thought that it could crush the right of self-determination of the people of Kashmir,” he said.

Qureshi said whole Pakistan will express solidary with Kashmiris on Wednesday. He said that Kashmiris must remember that Pakistan stands with them and is ready to go to any extent for them.

The development comes a day after Poland-which currently holds the presidency of UNSC- has made it clear that Kashmir dispute should be solved ‘bilaterally’.

Poland holds the presidency of the UNSC for the month of August and its current stand on Kashmir puts a lid on Islamabad’s urge to take the issue at international level. Pakistan has for long tried to internationalise the Kashmir issue and has failed in wake of India’s proactive diplomacy worldwide.

This has come after Russia voiced its support in the favour of India. Russia had backed Modi government's move to abrogate Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir saying, “Change in the status of the state of J&K and its division into two union territories are carried out within the framework of the Constitution of the Republic of India.”

Reiterating the need for both the countries to exercise restraint, Russian foreign ministry said that Moscow is a consistent supporter of normalisation of relations between India and Pakistan. And it hopes that the differences between them will be resolved by political and diplomatic means on a bilateral basis.

A statement issued by Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia read, “Moscow expects that India and Pakistan will not allow aggravation of the situation in the region due to the change by Delhi in the status of the state of Jammu and Kashmir.”

Meanwhile, India has categorically told the international community that its move to scrap Article 370 of the Constitution removing the special status to Jammu and Kashmir is an internal matter and has also advised Pakistan to ‘accept the reality’.

Earlier, Modi Government scrapped Article 370 that gave Jammu and Kashmir a significant autonomy. The central government also divided the state into two Union Territories (UTs) - Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

With PTI Inputs