NEW YORK: India’s permanent representative to the United Nations Syed Akbaruddin on Friday said that Kashmir is India’s internal matter and the government’s move to scrap Article 370 that gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir has no external ramifications.
“Our national position was and remains that matters related to Article 370 of the Indian Constitution are entirely an internal matter of India,” Syed Akbaruddin said.
Akbaruddin continued to add, ”We note that there were some who tried to project an alarmist approach to the situation which is far from the ground realities. Of particular concern is that one state is using the terminology of ‘jihad’ against and promoting violence in India including by their leaders.”
Speaking on behalf of the Indian government, Akbaruddin said, ”We’re committed to gradually removing all restrictions. Since the change is internal to India, have not made any difference to our external orientation. India remains committed to ensure that the situation in J&K remains calm and peaceful.”
On talk with Pakistan, Syed said, “Using terror to push goals is not the way normal states behave..stop terror to start talks”
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Before the closed-door UNSC meeting, Russia’s deputy permanent representative, Dimitry Polyanskiy, said that Moscow’s view is that it is a “bilateral issue” between India and Pakistan.
Polyanskiy said, “So we will open-heartedly continue to engage with Islamabad and New Delhi in order to help both of them come to terms and have good neighbourly relations Kashmir on the basis of Simla Agreement of 1972 and Lahore declaration of 1999”
Interestingly, minutes before the crucial UNSC meeting, Pakistan PM Imran Khan discussed the Kashmir issue with US President Donald Trump over the phone, seeking his intervention and support on the issue.
Russia, France, US and the UK reportedly backed India during the closed-door consultations.
The outcome will be considered a big diplomatic victory for India as consultations did not lead to any formal meeting which Islamabad was pressing for.
In the aftermath of India’s international decision to remove the special status for Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan has been trying to internationalise Kashmir by reaching out to global capitals but has not got any traction.
Source: Zee News