The United Nations Security Council will meet on Tuesday at China’s request to discuss the situation of Jammu and Kashmir.
According to Reuters, the council will meet behind closed doors for the first time since a similar gathering in August, which was also called by Pakistan ally China, after India removed the decades-old autonomy the area enjoyed under the Indian constitution. Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has written to the United Nations Security Council in which he expressed concern about a possible further escalation of tensions in Jammu and Kashmir.
Reuters report further states that, China’s U.N. mission wrote in a note to council members saying that “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.”
Tension between India and Pakistan escalated after New Delhi revoked Jammu and Kashmir’s special status on August 5. Pakistan has downgraded diplomatic ties with New Delhi and expelled the Indian High Commissioner.
Earlier, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres reiterated his appeal that India and Pakistan deal with the Kashmir issue through dialogue and ensure full respect for human rights. Pakistan has been trying to internationalise the Kashmir issue but India has asserted that the abrogation of Article 370 was its “internal matter”.
The August 5 decision by the Narendra Modi government to abrogate the special status given to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 and its bifurcation into two Union Territories was taken 72 years after the then ruler of the princely state, Maharaja Hari Singh, executed the Instrument of Accession on October 26, 1947, making it part of the Union of India.
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