U.N. Security Council to meet on IOK today at China’s request
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Tuesday will meet at China’s request to discuss the situation in Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, diplomats reported.
The council will meet privately for the first time since a similar gathering in August, which was also called by Pakistan ally China, after India revoked autonomy of the Himalayan region under Article 370 and Article 35A of the Constitution of India.
In a letter to the Security Council on Dec 12, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi expressed concern that tensions could possibly escalate.
“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 U.N. mission wrote in a note to council members, media sources say.
Diplomats, who chose to remain anonymous, confirmed the meeting was scheduled to take place on Tuesday.
The Himalayan region has long been a subject of dispute between nuclear-armed neighbors India and Pakistan, with both claiming Kashmir in full but ruling it partially.
U.N. peacekeepers have been deployed since 1949 to hold a ceasefire between India and Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Security Council adopted several resolutions in 1948 and in the 1950s on the dispute between India and Pakistan over the region. Particularly one that says a plebiscite should be held to determine the future of Muslim Kashmir.
Read More: Despite repression, Kashmiris still want plebiscite rejecting India’s sovereignty: New Yorker
Another resolution also calls upon both sides to “refrain from making any statements and from doing or causing to be done or permitting any acts which might aggravate the situation.”
