Pakistan seeks urgent UNSC meeting on IHK

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tuesday formally called for an urgent meeting of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on the grim situation in the Indian Held Kashmir (IHK) following India's annexation of the disputed Kashmir region.

The request for meeting was contained in a letter from Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi that Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi presented to Polish Ambassador Joanna Wronecka, who is the president of the 15-member council for the month of August.

The council president will hold consultations with the members and fix a date for the meeting. Meanwhile, Ambassador Lodhi began meeting the council members again to update them on the Kashmir situation.

In a another development, Poland's Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz, who is also in New York, said he hoped Pakistan and India could work out a "mutually beneficial solution" and favoured dialogue between the two nations to sort out their differences after New Delhi revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.

Czaputowicz was here to address a Security Council briefing Tuesday on ''International humanitarian law - Seventieth anniversary of the Geneva Conventions: upholding humanity in modern conflict.''

Later, Czaputowicz addressed reporters at the UN Security Council stakeout where he told them that he had a "phone conversation" with India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in the last few days.

"We expressed concerns over current tensions between India and Pakistan resulting from the proposed changed status of Jammu and Kashmir. Poland believes that the dispute can only be resolved by peaceful means and here we fully support the reaction of the European Union and statement issued by Federica Mogherini. We are in favour of dialogue between Pakistan and India to sort out the differences," Czaputowicz said.

He stressed that as a non-permanent member of the Security Council, "Poland stands ready, if needed, to engage" in preventing actions in security situation. He said he was "just informed” Tuesday morning that the Security Council had received a letter from the ambassador of Pakistan.

"I think the Security Council will discuss that issue and take a proper decision." Asked when the Security Council will meet to discuss the letter from Pakistan regarding Kashmir, Czaputowicz said, "I don’t know. Simply, I got the information about the letter. We’ll see. The Polish ambassador to the UN is always here and probably she will start consultations soon.”

Pakistan’s envoy to the UN Maleeha Lodhi had earlier this month met President of UN Security Council for the month of August Polish Ambassador Joanna Wronecka over Kashmir. The Polish ambassador however declined to comment on the issue.

"No comments," she had said at the Security Council stakeout at the UN headquarters last week, walking away as she was asked about Qureshi’s letter to the Security Council. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres also laid emphasis on the Simla Agreement of 1972 — a bilateral agreement between India and Pakistan that rejects third-party mediation in Kashmir.

Guterres’ spokesman Stephane Dujarric said at the daily press briefing last week that the Secretary General had been following the situation in Jammu and Kashmir "with concern and makes an appeal for maximum restraint."

The secretary general also "recalls the 1972 Agreement on bilateral relations between India and Pakistan, also known as the Simla Agreement, which states that the final status of Jammu and Kashmir is to be settled by peaceful means, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations."

Pakistan has urged the UNSC president to convene immediately a special meeting of the council to discuss the illegal steps taken by India to change the status quo in Kashmir which is a disputed area on the record of the United

Nations. Pakistan’s permanent representative (PR) for the United Nations (UN) Dr. Maleeha Lodhi submitted the Qureshi’s letter to the UN current president at the UN Headquarters in New York on Tuesday soon after receiving it.

The foreign minister in his letter has asked the president of the world body to convene a special meeting of the UNSC to discuss the illegal steps of India to change the status quo in Kashmir.

Qureshi contends that Pakistan deems that Indian actions have jeopardized the regional as well as global peace. The text of the letter would be released in a day or two by Dr. Lodhi. Meanwhile, diplomatic sources told The News on Tuesday that adoption of a resolution against India from the UNSC would be an uphill task since the majority of five permanent (P-5) and 10 non-permanent members will hardly favour passage of a resolution against India.

Pakistan could easily get sponsorship for putting up the resolution for consideration of the council since China that has been hit directly by Indian move is committed to refer the resolution to the president of the UN.

The UNSC has five permanent members with veto power including United States (US), China, Russian Federation, France and United Kingdom (UK) while ten non-permanent members are Kuwait, Indonesia, South Africa, Cote d’Ivoire, Dominican Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Peru, Germany, Poland and Belgium.

The sources reminded that Pakistan will need eight votes for passage of the resolution provided subsequently no P-5-member country doesn’t veto it. The UN president has the discretion for convening the council meeting and consideration of the matter forthwith if in his opinion the matter is so urgent and peace could be jeopardized in case of delay.

She can ask for the meeting at once after a brief close-door discussion with important members of the council. The sources reminded that Dr. Maleeha Lodhi’s clout in the UN headquarters could help Pakistan in early convening of the UN Security Council meeting but the Foreign Office will have to work hard for mustering support of the capitals which are non-permanent members of the UNSC.

The sources warned that India had already started work to block the resolution as it had activated its missions in the capitals of the countries which were the members of the UNSC. The sources pointed out that India could hinder the convening of the session immediately but the president wouldn’t delay it for a longer period of time. The UNSC could assembly before end of the month to discuss Pakistan’s letter despite presence of strong support of India in the UNSC.

Diplomatic observers are of view that any resolution that will have harsh language about India could be vetoed by any member. At least three of the P-5 members are willing to side with India, they opined. The sources revealed that the letter from Pakistan would be distributed among the UNSC member countries as Pakistan had called for urgent session of the council.