The UN Security Council discussed the grim situation in Kashmir for the second time since August 5 revocation of the autonomous status of the disputed territory under Indian control.
The council met behind-closed-doors months as diplomats expressed concern over Pakistan-India tensions just hour before the arrival of Pakistan’s foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi for a meeting with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
Pakistan and India have been in a state of heightened tension since the right-wing BJP Government in New Delhi – led by PM Narendra Modi – imposed stringent restrictions on Kashmiris with a heavy military clampdown once India changed the status of the territory – recognized by UN as disputed and partly administered by Pakistan and India. China also controls parts of the territory.
Indian BJP Government’s actions caused enormous Kashmiri suffering – HRW
“We had a meeting on Jammu and Kashmir,” China’s U.N. Ambassador Zhang Jun told reporters at UN Headquarters in New York.
The 15-member Council, he said, heard a briefing from the UN secretariat on the situation.
Pakistan and China had requested the Council to consider the situation in Jammu and Kashmir.
Iftikhar Ali is a veteran Pakistani journalist, former president of UN Correspondents Association, and a recipient of the Pride of Performance civil award
