A day after e China prompted the United Nations Security Council to discuss the Kashmir issue in a closed-door meeting, India “firmly” rejected the Chinese initiative and reiterated Kashmir was a domestic issue.
“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 Ministry declared in a press statement.
The Chinese move came on the first anniversary of the abrogation of Article 370, which led to the creation of the new Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh and ending of 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.
Following Wednesday’s development at the UNSC, India’s Permanent Representative at the UN body described the move as an “attempt by Pakistan” that failed. “In today’s meeting of UN 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,” said Mr. Tirumurti.
Apart from taking up the Kashmir issue at the UNSC, China also spoke about the issue through its Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing where its spokesperson described India’s August 5, 2019, decision to abrogate the “special status” of Jammu and Kashmir as an “illegal” act.
In a tough response, the Ministry of External Affairs said China had “no locus standi whatsoever on this matter and is advised not to comment on the internal affairs of other nations”.