Kashmir issue an obligation for Pakistan to Kashmiris: Maleeha Lodhi

NEW YORK: The missions of several countries are looking forward to the arrival of the respective heads of their states at the United Nations Headquarters for the 72nd session of the United Nations General Assembly.

Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi will also arrive to address the session on Thursday. Speaking to The News here on Friday, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the UN Maleeha Lodhi spoke about the upcoming session as well as the skirmishes in Kashmir.

The ambassador said: “This month will mark 70 years of our association with the United Nations. This is a special occasion for us and marks a milestone and a watershed for us. We have a new Secretary-General and he has announced reforms in several areas, and his proposal covers management, development and the peace and security architecture. We would wait for the announcement and naturally we would want to be involved in shaping these reforms because they are for years to come.

She added that it was an opportunity for the country at the world stage to talk about its foreign policy in the region, and broader goals globally. “At the UN, we are not a country with a regional outlook, we have a global perspective,” she said.

Commenting on the Kashmir issue, she stressed that it would be raised on the world stage explicitly.The ambassador said: “We’ll make sure that the international community knows where we are, and how the people of Kashmir look towards the UN to fulfil its long standing obligations. This is an issue the PM would obviously raise with the Secretary-General. It is also an issue which we have been raising over the years — whenever we get an opportunity to speak about the right to self-determination.”

Referring to a General Assembly session on the culture of peace last week, she said: “Unless outstanding disputes were resolved, durable peace would not be possible. That is the first way to raise our concerns about Kashmir — through speeches and interventions. The second way is the ‘India-Pakistan’ question, which has been on the agenda of the Security Council since 1948. Under that agenda, we send documents, which may take the shape of a letter by our Foreign Minister. And is a way for our views to be circulated to members of the SC. We also go to the President of Council and brief him about the human rights violations that are going on, and underline the fact that continued ceasefire violations are attempts to distract international attention from what is happening in occupied Kashmir, and the Council should examine this very carefully.”

The ambassador further added: “For Pakistan, it is not a question of choice, it is an obligation to the people of Kashmir, to international law, to morality and the very concept of Pakistan that... we shouldraise Kashmir issue and make sure that the international community is focussed on the dispute, and our diplomatic mobilisation should continue unabated irrespective of Delhi may or may not say.”

She also said that it was not situational pertaining to the next week.“On Kashmir, it is certainly not the case that the GA’s high-level segment has arrived and we would jump up and start talking about Kashmir. We do this throughout the year. But of course the GA session offers an opportunity to address the international community even this is part of an ongoing diplomatic effort.”

Pointing at the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP), she said that an expansion has been called for.The ambassador said: “India doesn’t allow it to function on its side of the Line of Control (LOC). We have been telling the Council that the situation is very alarming; it concerns two nuclear neighbours and, therefore, any escalation of tension between the two should be a concern for the Council. Expansion of UNMOGIP is the best possible solution we have to prevent this escalation, because when you already have an existing mechanism then let’s use it.”

The ambassador felt that the bilateral talks between both countries were immensely important. “As long as we had bilateral talks between Pakistan and India, we at least talked about Kashmir, even if we did not make much headway in the dialogue,” the ambassador said. “But in the past, both countries did engage in conversations and agree on measures on the grounds through CBMs to ease the suffering of Kashmiris, even if these remained largely unimplemented.”

The ambassador further added: “People on both sides of the LOC were supposed to be enabled by these CBMs to trade and visit each other. But when bilateral talks have been stopped in their tracks by the present Indian government, raising the issue internationally becomes even more important. With the bilateral track blocked, we get more traction from the international community.

She stressed that the only peaceful way to find a solution was through talks, which would only be possible if India would change its no-talk posture. “This would also undermine any possibility of escalation of tension,” she added.The ambassador said that the Prime Minister of Pakistan, on his arrival, was expected to meet prominent world leaders and some leaders from the region as well.