On Friday Pakistan faced another embarrassment when the UNSC decided not to censure India regarding legislative developments in Jammu and Kashmir. The UN security council had decided to hold closed door consultations after China had approached Poland which holds the UNSC presidency this month, to discuss the letter written by Pakistan on India’s move to apply the Indian Constitution in Jammu and Kashmir in full spirit. India has rendered an article of the Indian constitution, Article 370, ineffective and bifurcated the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories, to which Pakistan, a state sponsor of terror, has raised serious objections.
In the closed door meeting, called out by China to discuss the said changes, India saw firm support from USA and France, Russia was in favor of open meeting but did not support the need to put out a public statement, while UK and China felt a public statement was needed. China, on one hand was expected to keep up with the pro-Pakistan rhetoric during the discussions; however the UK’s move has surely shocked many as siding with China and Pakistan to support optics like the public statement was aimed at discrediting India’s stand that the move in Jammu and Kashmir is an internal matter. UK’s decision comes in the wake of violent Pakistani and Khalistani radicals attacking Indian diaspora in UK celebrating India’s Independence Day at the Indian high Commission in London on Thursday. However, UK’s move is more to the optics side because of its growing ties with China, perhaps to prevent the complete and embarrassing isolation of China on the matter.
Nonetheless, majority UNSC members overwhelmingly supported India’s position in Jammu and Kashmir and maintained the bilateral nature of dispute resolution between the two neighbors. Russia’s Deputy Permanent Representative, Dimitry Polyanskiy also reiterated that it is a ‘bilateral issue’ between India and Pakistan. The UNSC also appreciated India’s security measures in Jammu and Kashmir which ensured the safety of people, making a point that steps were taken in the right direction.
Before the closed door meeting, Pakistani Prime minister had also made a last desperate call to President Donald Trump for USA’s support to spark an international controversy, however there too Pakistan was not entertained. The White House, referring to Imran Khan’s call to Donald Trump before the meeting, said: “The President conveyed the importance of India and Pakistan reducing tensions through bilateral dialogue regarding the situation in Jammu and Kashmir.”
Other than China, no other UNSC member commented on the meeting after it ended given that it was an informal consultation, China claimed that UNSC members were “concerned about the human rights situation there and also it’s the general view of members that parties concerned should refrain from taking any unilateral action that might further aggravate the tension”.
However, in a prompt reply, India’s Permanent UN Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin remarked that Pakistan and China have been trying to pass off its own remarks as “the will of the international community”. He said “For the first time after the end of Security Council consultations, we noted that two states (China and Pakistan) who made national statements tried to pass them off as the will of the international community,” he also added that Pakistan has to “stop terror to start talks.”
These meek attempts by China to manipulate the outcome of the UNSC closed consultations only points towards China’s superficial concern on the issue, while it continues to violently clamp down on pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. As for Pakistan which has a long history of presenting instances of national embarrassment as a moral or in some cases strategic victory to its population, in this case too, Pakistan has also claimed diplomatic victory over majority of UNSC voting against Pakistan’s pitch made through China.
While India has emerged as a sustainable and credible partner towards a stable world order, Pakistan has been exposed as a clear aggressor and a dangerous risk to peace in the region. Moreover, several nations have also called on Pakistan to take conclusive actions against terrorists breading on its sovereign territory. Nonetheless, efforts by the Modi Government in this regard to further solidify the trust of the International community are surely paying off in situations like these where nations like Pakistan and China stand isolated while attempting to isolate India.
