UN Security Council to meet on Kashmir at China’s request

The United Nations Security Council will meet at China’s request on Tuesday to discuss the situation in Indian-administered Kashmir, diplomats said.

The council will meet behind closed doors for the first time since a similar gathering in August, which was also called by Pakistan’s ally, China, after India removed the decades-old autonomy the area had under the constitution, Al Jazeera reports.

The Muslim-majority region has been under lockdown and denied internet access since August 5, when India’s Hindu nationalist government scrapped Article 370 which granted Kashmir limited autonomy.

In a letter to the Security Council on December 12, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, expressed concern about a possible further escalation of tensions.

“In view of the seriousness of the situation and the risk of further escalation, China would like to echo the request of Pakistan, and request a briefing of the Council … on the situation of Jammu and Kashmir,” China’s UN mission wrote in a note to council members, seen by Reuters.

Diplomats speaking on condition of anonymity confirmed the meeting was scheduled to take place on Tuesday.

“We don’t know what exactly is this (meeting). We have to wait until the meet,” said former Indian diplomat and strategic affairs expert, KC Singh.

“The last meeting was not on the UNSC agenda and this may be the same,” he told Al Jazeera.

Read also: IMPEACHMENT: US Senate to decide Trump’s fate on Tuesday

The Himalayan region has long been a flashpoint in ties between nuclear-armed neighbours India and Pakistan, with both claiming Kashmir in full but ruling it in part.

UN peacekeepers have been deployed since 1949 to observe a ceasefire between India and Pakistan in the disputed territory.

For decades, India has battled an armed rebellion in the portion it controls. It blames Pakistan for increasing the strife, but Pakistan denies this, saying it gives only moral support to non-violent separatists.

The Security Council adopted several resolutions in 1948 and in the 1950s on the dispute between India and Pakistan over the region, including one which says a plebiscite should be held to determine the future of mostly Muslim Kashmir.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now