The UN Security Council on Friday began a rare closed door meeting to discuss India revoking the special status of Jammu and Kashmir after Pakistan, backed by its all-weather ally, China, requested “closed consultations” on the issue. The outcome of the UNSC meeting will not be a formal pronouncement as the consultations are informal in nature. India and Pakistan are not attending the meeting, which is open only to the five permanent members and 10 non-permanent members.
The Russian envoy apparently suggested India and Pakistan to take bilateral route on the basis of Simla Agreement of 1972 and Lahore declaration of 1999, and in accordance with UN Charter, relevant UN resolutions and other bilateral agreements.
Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Maleeha Lodhi said Pakistan welcomes the UN Security Council meeting.
After the UNSC meeting, the Chinese envoy said, “The security general made a statement to refrain from taking unilateral action which is dangerous. Issue should be resolved in accordance with UN Charter.” He also said that China is deeply concerned about the situation.
We call upon India and Pakistan to not aggregate tensions in the region. The situation is dangerous. China asks both countries to maintain peace in the region, Chinese envoy after the UN Security Council meeting.
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The United Nations Security Council is holding a meeting on Kashmir today (Friday) following a formal request by Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi in a letter to UNSC President Joanna Wronecka under the agenda item ‘India-Pakistan question’.
The United Nations Security Council is scheduled to hold a rare meeting on Kashmir after India stripped the region of its autonomy, sparking a row with Pakistan, diplomats said.
The meeting will take place behind closed doors on Friday morning, the diplomats said.
Poland, which currently holds the council s rotating presidency, has listed the matter for discussion at 10:00 am (1400 GMT), the diplomats added.
It is extremely rare for the Security Council to discuss Kashmir, which has been divided between India and Pakistan since independence from Britain in 1947.
The last time there was a full Security Council meeting on the Himalayan region was in 1965.
Friday s discussion is not considered a full security meeting but rather referred to as closed door consultations, which are becoming increasingly more common, diplomats said.
Parts of Kashmir that India controls have been under lockdown since August 4, with freedom of movement restricted and phones and the internet cut.
A day later, New Delhi scrapped Article 370 in the Indian constitution that had granted Kashmir special autonomy, splitting the state of Jammu and Kashmir in two and downgrading their status to union territories.
In a speech marking Indian Independence Day Thursday Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the decision was one of several “path-breaking” moves by his newly re-elected administration.
He said “fresh thinking” was needed after seven decades of failure to ensure harmony in the picturesque but tragic former kingdom, where tens of thousands have died in the past 30 years.
Pakistan observed “Black Day” on Thursday to coincide with India s independence day celebrations.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, who has warned of possible “ethnic cleansing” in Kashmir, replaced his Twitter profile photo with a black circle.
Kashmir has been the spark for two major wars and countless clashes between the two nuclear-armed arch-rivals, most recently in February when they conducted tit-for-tat air strikes.
