Miserable failure of Diplomacy on Kashmir

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Miserable failure of Diplomacy on Kashmir

Contrary to the claims made by Pakistani officials and the media that Kashmir issue remains on the Security Council’s agenda and its consideration by the Council reflects a recognition of the seriousness of the prevailing situation, the world and some so-called friends of Pakistan are taking a different view of the UNSC meeting.

They say the said meeting was held to discuss the affairs of Mali and Columbia and Kashmir’s issue was not at all on the UNSC meeting agenda. When we asked a direct question to one of the UN Pakistan Permeant Mission officials about the details of the closed-door UNSC meeting on Kashmir he said Mission does not have any written details neither official statement. He said Chines Ambassador gave a statement when he came out of the meeting. When we reviewed the Chines Ambassador’s remarks about the SC meeting, he simply said the meeting took place and we talked about Kashmir but he refused to answer details. So he is the only one confirmed in short statement but no one else from SC Council said nothing.

UNSC meeting on Kashmir Issue
UNSC meeting on Kashmir Issue

Pakistan has once again been unsuccessful to achieve a result on the Kashmir issue in the UNSC meeting. The US, UK, France, and Russia, four permanent members of the UNSC, with the backing of Germany disallowed the Pakistan-China initiative on Kashmir issue to be discussed during the UNSC meeting. This shows a miserable failure of international diplomacy of Pakistan’s incompetent diplomats.

Except for China, all other 14 members believed that this was not a problem that required discourse at this point as people were already at ease with the matter. France and UK emphatically called it a bilateral issue between the two countries i.e. Pakistan and India.

Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov provided backing to India’s demand for becoming a permanent member of the UNSC, while Pakistan is not shown on the UNSC website even its non-permanent member in January 2020.

Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov on kashmir issue
Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov on kashmir issue

Moscow’s envoy to New Delhi Nikolay Kudashev also termed the Kashmir issue as a strictly bilateral matter between India and Pakistan, which should be discussed based on Shimla Agreement and Lahore Declaration. There is no doubt on India’s Kashmir approach, he also added.

Russian Deputy Chief of Mission Roman Babushkin made a startling disclosure that the S-300 upgraded version previously available to Russian defense forces will now be delivered to India by 2025.

Another Russian diplomat Dmitry Polyanskiy tweeted that it is a bilateral matter between Pakistan and India, which has before now been discussed at the UNSC closed consultations. He hoped that the differences between India and Pakistan could be settled through bilateral efforts based on the Shimla Agreement and Lahore Declaration.

The United States of America has also said that the issue did not belong here (the UNSC).

The UNSC Kashmir meeting success as asserted by Pakistan proved to be a scam of Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Islamabad Ambassador to the US, Asad Majeed Khan. They are fond of using false facades to divert the attention of the citizens of the country from knowing the malaise that has afflicted them. If we check the UNSC website there is no news about Kashmir, no press release about it.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Kashmir Issue
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Kashmir Issue

Even though there was no tangible outcome of the UNSC meeting on Kashmir, our dear Foreign Minister Mr. Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that the United Nation’s recognition of the alarming situation in occupied Kashmir has reaffirmed that it is an internationally recognized issue. In his meetings with President UNSC Dang Dinh Quy, President UNGA Tijjani Muhammad-Bande and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres he claimed to highlight the humanitarian crisis and the reign of terror unleashed on innocent Kashmiris by India.

Meeting Mike Pompeo or the US senators or other officials who are quite ineffective and unproductive on the Kashmir issue can’t serve any purpose.

Our diplomatic representatives are not serving the interests of the country, only their hidden motives, otherwise, what was the purpose of meeting the persons who could not be instrumental in helping Pakistan achieve its targets on Kashmir. Pakistan needs immediate reshuffle of its diplomatic staff both at home and abroad. Isn’t it strange that the Pakistan Embassy in the US is working without a Press Minister?

As the UNSC meeting was held behind closed doors, nothing was officially divulged to the media. The photographs published and exchanged so far signal there was no roundtable meeting on the Kashmir issue. Ambassador Zhang Jun, the Chinese permanent representative to the United Nations, however, confirmed to the journalists that the Council had reviewed the situation in the Occupied Kashmir as it received a briefing on the situation from its secretariat.

As things stand, China has a clear stance on Kashmir and is willing to stand by it openly. As ambassador Zhang put it, China recognizes Kashmir as a disputed territory and supports Islamabad’s demand for a plebiscite. Pakistan’s Arab friends have given loans to Pakistan when it needed them immediately and supplied oil to Pakistan on deferred payment. They are nevertheless reluctant to irk India as they have heavily invested there. This elucidates why the OIC did not go further than making indecisive statements on the issue.

According to the official statements, several countries expressed serious concern regarding the situation in occupied Kashmir, but, unfortunately, Pakistan got a cold response from many of his friends.

You may also like to read: Pulwama attack 2019 and its impact on Pak-India Relations

How long the Pakistani officials’ practice of using false facades to divert the attention of the citizens of the country from knowing the disease that has plagued them, will continue?

I am really sad that the happy scenario painted by the officials of Pakistan based on false reports flashed repeatedly by them about the success of their efforts on the Kashmir issue has been found incredible. Imran Khan should immediately appoint new experienced Diplomates in the UN and Embassy of Pakistan. Pakistani American Diaspora including media can play an active role in Kashmir.

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Farooq Mirza
Farooq Mirza is the president, 4th pillar - Vigilant Media Watchdog, Resident Editor, Daily Hotline & News USA, Columnist, writer and analytic. The author is based in NJ USA

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