After Modi government abolished Article 370, Pakistan was fast to cry foul over this move. Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi stated, “Pakistan condemns & rejects announcements made today by Indian Government regarding Indian Occupied Jammu & Kashmir. We intend to firmly highlight our stance in our meetings with the US delegation visiting Pakistan and with the international community at large.” However, the world has largely remained mum on India’s move to abrogate article 370 and bifurcation of the state of Jammua and Kashmir, while USA, UAE and Sri Lanka have asserted that it is an internal matter in what should come as a big blow to Pakistan’s Imran Khan government.
United Arab Emirates (UAE) which is a member of OIC openly supported the Modi government’s decision and said that it is “not a unique incident” but an “internal matter” of India. “The reorganisation of states is not a unique incident in history of independent India and it was mainly aimed at reducing regional disparity and improving efficiency. It is an internal matter as stipulated by the Indian Constitution,” said Dr Ahmad Al Banna, the UAE’s ambassador to India.
After UAE made its stand clear, the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, the southeastern neighbor in Indian Ocean also supported India’s move. “The creation of Ladakh and the consequential restructuring are India’s internal matters,” said Sri Lankan PM Ranil Wickremesinghe on Twitter.
I understand Ladakh will finally become a Union Territory. With over 70% Buddhist it will be the first Indian state with a Buddhist majority. The creation of Ladakh and the consequential restructuring are India's internal matters. I have visited Ladakh and it is worth a visit.
— Ranil Wickremesinghe (@RW_UNP) August 6, 2019
Coming as the biggest cause for worry for Pakistan, the United States of America (USA) has also released statement about India’s official position of the matter. “We note that the Indian government has described these actions as strictly an internal matter,” said State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus. USA duly recognized that India is just revising constitutional status of the state of Jammu & Kashmir. “We take note of India’s announcement revising the constitutional status of Jammu and Kashmir and India’s plan to split the state into two union territories,” added the state department of the USA.
Muslim majority country, Maldives, also supported India’s move. In a statement, the Maldives said it considers “the decision taken by the Government of India regarding Article 370 of the Indian Constitution as an internal matter”. The statement further added, “We believe it is the right of every sovereign nation to amend their laws as required,”
The government of Pakistan took the matter to the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC), United States and many other countries and global forums. Almost every country around the globe either welcomed India’s decision or chooses to remain neutral except OIC which condemned the move to abrogate article 370 and bifurcate the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories. Defence analyst Abhijit Iyer Mitra has noted that India has not broken any international laws and hence Modi government’s move will not be opposed by the world.
OIC Contact Group which was formed in 1994 to coordinate policy of the organization on the Jammu and Kashmir comprising Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan, Niger met to discuss the matter and condemned India’s move. “The Contact Group condemned India’s recent illegal and unilateral steps, aimed at undermining the demographics and the disputed nature of the Jammu and Kashmir in contravention of the relevant UN resolutions, which seriously imperil regional peace and security,” said the foreign office of OIC.
The difference between OIC’s response and country level response of UAE which is a member of OIC shows that not all 57 member states of the Islamic organization agree with its official response. Also the hypocritical stance of the OIC on Kashmir is well known to the world.
According to news reports, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale and other senior officials of the Indian foreign ministry have briefed all 15 members which also includes P5 countries — the United States, United Kingdom, France, Russia and China of the UN Security Council “in light of the interest expressed by the diplomatic community in Delhi”.
India had also pointed out that the proposals made in the Parliament on Monday were “aimed at providing good governance, promoting social justice and ensuring economic development in Jammu and Kashmir.” Reports had also emerged that PM Modi had taken into confidence the major leaders regarding some big changes with regard to Kashmir.
Political analysts have indicated that Pakistan is poised to raise the Kashmir issue in all possible forums, including at the forthcoming session of the UN General Assembly in September this year. However, the proactive approach of the Modi administration made sure that Pakistan’s sinister plans to mislead the international community on the matter do not materialize and generally positive or neutral international reactions on abrogation of 370 only shows the diplomatic heft of PM Narendra Modi in the international community.
