New Delhi: Following Beijing’s raising of the Kashmir issue on Wednesday at Pakistan’s behest for informal consultations at the UN Security Council that ended in a damp squib, India lashed out at China on Thursday, asking it to “seriously reflect on this global consensus, draw the proper lessons and refrain from taking such action in future”. New Delhi said the “overwhelming majority of the UNSC members were of the view that UNSC was not the right forum for such issues and this should be discussed bilaterally between India and Pakistan” and that “the informal closed-door meeting, therefore, concluded without any outcome”.
Hitting out at Islamabad as well, India said it “sincerely hopes that the message has gone across loud and clear to Pakistan that if at all there is any matter between India and Pakistan that needs to be discussed, it should be discussed bilaterally”, adding that “Pakistan can avoid this global embarrassment time and again by putting their energy in something constructive”. The MEA said “it once again highlighted that Pakistan’s desperate measures to peddle baseless allegations and presenting an alarming scenario lacked any credibility”.
Sources said no other country at the UNSC backed China which means that 14 out of the 15 UNSC members backed the Indian position. Sources also said Beijing seems to be under tremendous pressure from Islamabad to keep raising the issue informally at the UN. This is the third time China has attempted to raise the matter. The first was in August last year, soon after India revoked Article 370, when the UNSC informally discussed the situation in Kashmir. The second attempt was made in December, but China backed off.
On why China was repeatedly insisting on raising the Kashmir issue for informal consultations at the UNSC, external affairs ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar said: “I suggest that this question should be posed to the Chinese side as well. China should seriously reflect on this global consensus, draw the proper lessons and refrain from taking such action in future.”
Commenting on the issue, the MEA said: “An effort was made by Pakistan through a member of the UNSC to once again misuse the platform of UNSC for discussing a bilateral matter. The overwhelming majority of UNSC members were of the view that the UNSC was not the right forum for such issues, and this should be discussed bilaterally between India and Pakistan. The informal closed-door meeting, therefore, concluded without any outcome. It once again highlighted that Pakistan’s desperate measures to peddle baseless allegations and presenting an alarming scenario lacked any credibility. We sincerely hope that the message has gone across loud and clear to Pakistan that if at all there is any matter between India and Pakistan that needs to be discussed, it should be discussed bilaterally. Pakistan can avoid this global embarrassment time and again by putting their energy in something constructive.”
