In a move that smacks of desperation, Pakistan tried to rake up the issue of Kashmir at a conference to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Convention of the Rights of the Child. The conference which is being hosted in the Sri Lankan parliament in association with UNICEF saw Pakistan acting as an irritant and again raising the issue of Kashmir at an unrelated forum. India on its part yet again humiliated Pakistan at an international conference after the latter again attempted to internationalise the issue of Kashmir.
The Indian delegation of BJP MP Sanjay Jaiswal and Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi completely tore apart the Pakistani delegation after India’s presentation on ‘Child Rights’ was followed by the Pakistani delegation who instead attempted to bring Kashmir into a Child Rights conference. The Pakistani delegation broke the agenda of the forum by stating, “I would like to draw your attention to the situation in Kashmir today. Curfew continues for 30 days” which was vociferously countered by the Indian delegation arguing that India has rectified a law which was within its constitution. Unfazed by India’s counters, the Pakistani delegation continued to speak on Kashmir under the garb of ‘Child Rights’ to which Gaurav Gogoi shot back that Pakistani delegation would be better advised to take care of the Human Rights violations in its own country against the minorities and legislations such as the blasphemy law. The Indian delegation firmly reminded Pakistan that Pakistan’s voice will not be heard on Kashmir since it’s an integral part of India. The Chair had to intervene to stop Pakistani delegation from using the forum on Child Rights to peddle their political agenda. This embarrassment comes close on the heels of Pakistan’s humiliation in the Maldives where India scuttled an attempt by Pakistan to raise the Kashmir issue during the South Asian Speakers’ Summit. Despite Pakistan’s desperate attempts, the Summit opined that Kashmir was an internal matter of India, ignoring all the suggestions made by Pakistan, so much so that Pakistan couldn’t even manage to get a passing reference to the Kashmir issue in the Summit’s declaration. In what can be seen as a stinging rebuke to Pakistan, the Summit even refused to entertain Pakistan’s attempt to refer to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor also could not find a place in the Declaration.
The successive summits were held at geographically important places and India after getting widespread support from the global community has also managed to align its neighbours on its stance on Kashmir. Pakistan becoming increasingly isolated is resorting to such desperate attempts at hurting India’s image globally and has been reduced to being a mere irritant at International events. The desperation was perhaps aggravated by its failure to get onboard Sri Lanka and the Maldives to its nefarious agenda, with both the countries reeling under the debt of Pakistan’s all-weather ally China. It seems that humiliation has become synonymous with Pakistan.
