China’s attempt met with little support from theUNSC members.  

A day after China prompted the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to discuss the Kashmir issue in a closed-door meeting, India “firmly” rejected the Chinese initiative and reiterated that Kashmir is a domestic issue. Veteran diplomats demanded that South Block launch a campaign to remove Kashmir from the agenda of the council.

“As on previous occasions, this attempt too met with little support from the international community. We firmly reject China’s interference in our internal affairs and urge it to draw proper conclusions from such infructuous attempts,” the External Affairs Ministry said in a press statement.

The Chinese move came on the first anniversary of the dilution of Article 370, which led to the creation of the Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh and ended the special status for the region. China initiated a similar move on August 16 last year when it revived “The India-Pakistan Question” at the UNSC. The issue had not been taken up at the council since it last figured in the world body before the India-Pakistan war of 1971. The meeting had failed to generate a common statement or a consensus on the matter.

China attempted a similar move in January this year as well, but it did not attract sufficient support from the UNSC members. The frequency of such attempts by China has prompted diplomats to highlight the unequal nature of the UN organ, where the agenda is set by the permanent members (P5) of the UNSC.

‘Pakistani bid’

Following Wednesday’s development at the UNSC, India’s Permanent Representative at the U.N., T.S. Tirumurti, described the move as an “attempt by Pakistan” that failed.

“In today’s meeting of U.N. Security Council, which was closed, informal, not recorded and without any outcome, almost all countries underlined that Jammu and Kashmir was bilateral issue and did not deserve the time and attention of the council,” he said.

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