Nudged by Pakistan, China's Bid to Raise Kashmir at UNSC Falls Flat as Members Call for Bilateral Resolution

New Delhi: China’s attempts to raise the Kashmir issue at the United Nations Security Council at the behest of “all-weather" ally Pakistan failed to bear fruit as most members sought a bilateral resolution to the conflict between neighbours.

Sources told News18 that US, UK, France and Russia were of the view that the Kashmir issue did not need to be discussed at the UNSC and should instead be settled bilaterally.

The move by China is the third such attempt since August when the special status granted to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution was scrapped by the government, and the state was bifurcated into two Union Territories.

In August, China pushed for a UNSC meeting on Kashmir after the government scrapped J&K's special status. However, the meeting did not yield the desired results as the member-states maintained that India's move was an internal issue

Last month, France, the United States, United Kingdom and Russia had foiled an attempt by China to discuss Kashmir at a closed-door meeting of the UNSC.

Welcoming the move, India's Permanent Representative to UN Syed Akbaruddin said the outcome was on expected lines. "We are happy that neither the alarming scenario painted by the representatives of Pakistan nor any of the baseless allegations made repeatedly by various representatives of Pakistan in UN fora were found to be credible," he said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has earlier said that Beijing is watching the Kashmir situation and will support its ally Pakistan in issues related to its core interests.

India and Pakistan have been locked in a war of words since the Narendra Modi-led government scrapped the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and divided it into two Union Territories — J&K and Ladakh.

In protest, Pakistan downgraded diplomatic ties and expelled Indian high commissioner Ajay Bisaria and also suspended trade ties. It also sought to internationalise the issue by raising it at the UN but did not get much support.

Beijing, the all-weather ally of Islamabad, has backed Pakistan over the Kashmir issue, with its Foreign Minister Wang Yi in his earlier address to the UN General Assembly saying, "No actions that would unilaterally change the status quo should be taken."

China has been critical of India's reorganisation of J&K and has particularly criticised Delhi for making Ladakh a Union Territory. China lays claim over several parts of Ladakh.

India's decisions on Kashmir had also cast a shadow over Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to India in October for the second informal summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

However, despite the acrimony over the issue, Modi and Xi held "successful" talks in the ancient coastal town of Mamallapuram, signalling a recalibration of bilateral ties.