Addressing the suffering of Kashmiris is UNSC’s responsibility: Pak PM

New Delhi, Aug 17
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan Saturday welcomed the United Nations Security Council’s (UNSC) closed-door meeting held on Friday to discuss the Jammu and Kashmir issue. Khan said it’s for the first time in over 50 years that the world’s highest diplomatic forum has taken up the issue.
“There are 11 UNSC resolutions reiterating the Kashmiris right to self-determination. And the UNSC meeting was a reaffirmation of these resolutions. Therefore addressing the suffering of the Kashmiri people & ensuring resolution of the dispute is the responsibility of this world body,” he said.
The UNSC decided to hold “informal consultations” on J&K after China approached Poland, which holds the UNSC presidency this month, to discuss Pakistan’s letter on India’s move to revoke J&K’s special status and its bifurcation into two Union Territories.
Except for China, no other UNSC member commented on the meeting after it ended given that it was an informal consultation.
China’s envoy to the UN Zhang Jun said 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”.
Rebutting the Chinese envoy’s claim, India’s Permanent UN Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin said Zhang was trying to pass off his own remarks as “the will of the international community”.
Pakistan has strongly rejected the Narendra Modi-l ed NDA Govt’s move of scrapping Jammu and Kashmir’s special status and said it was against the UNSC resolutions. Pakistan also expelled the Indian High Commissioner soon after deciding to downgrade diplomatic ties with New Delhi. India has categorically conveyed to the international community that its move on Article 370 was an “internal matter” and advised Pakistan to “accept the reality”. The Indian Express