‘Stop bringing Kashmir issue here,’ Countries send China and Pakistan a clear message in UNSC

China and Pakistan, two friends, thick as thieves, always planning and plotting against India to create some kind of unrest in the country have been made to eat the humble-pie yet again, and on an international platform. On Wednesday, a meeting was convened by China at the behest of Pakistan in the United Nations to discuss and internationalize the Kashmir issue. The meeting was held behind closed doors under ‘Any Other Business’. However, the meeting ended up being a dud affair for the two parties as other countries refused to take up the Jammu & Kashmir issue citing it as a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan

In a tweet, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Tirumurti said, “Another attempt by Pakistan fails! In today’s meeting of UN Security Council which was closed, informal, not recorded and without any outcome, almost all countries underlined that J&K was a bilateral issue & did not deserve time and attention of Council.”

The meeting was called on the first anniversary of the abrogation of Article 370 and according to news reports the US took the lead when China unnecessarily barged in with the issue. As soon as the US took the initiative, other members of the Council- UK, Germany, Dominican Republic, Vietnam, Indonesia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, France, Estonia, and Belgium made it clear that the Kashmir issue was not a matter for the UN body to discuss as it was a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan.

According to sources, some even went to the extent of saying that these ‘bilateral’ issues should not be brought up at the UNSC, some others referred to the Simla Agreement that precisely highlights the bilateral aspect of the outstanding issues between the two parties.

Tirumurti also pointed out that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in his statement last August, clearly referred to the 1972 bilateral Simla Agreement.

This is not the first time that China has created unnecessary chatter in the UNSC with its fickle demands. Earlier in January, China, on behalf of Pakistan, had made a similar attempt to raise the Kashmir issue under “other matters” during closed consultations in the Security Council Consultations Room.

And just like Wednesday, China was ordered to keep out of the issue and made to stand alone with Pakistan in a room full of India’s allies. While Pakistan has been regularly knocking at the UNSC’s door in futile, China after the Galwan Valley incident has been trying to incite India on international forums.

Recently, China had called India’ abrogation of Article 370 and bifuraction of Jammu & Kashmir into two Union territories as “illegal and invalid”

The External Affairs Ministry came down heavily on China and through its Spokesperson, Anurag Srivastava issued words of caution to China saying it had no locus standi on the matter.

“We have noted the comments of the Chinese MFA spokesperson on the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The Chinese side has no locus standi whatsoever on this matter and is advised not to comment on the internal affairs of other nations,” said Anurag Srivastava.

Moreover, the CCP is rattled at the pace of India’s infrastructure development along the border with China. The Modi government has been carrying much need development activities along the border and China is visibly spooked at India’s assertiveness regarding Ladakh and Aksai Chin.

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. China in the last 6 months has shown its true colors and reaching the UNSC table to rake up the Kashmir issue is nothing but a charade designed to grab the attention of India.