UNSC Members Force China to Withdraw Request for Kashmir-Debate

NEW DELHI: Faced with opposition from key members of the UN security council, China quietly withdrew its request for a discussion on Kashmir which was earlier scheduled for Tuesday.

The Indian government remained tight-lipped, with official sources saying, “India is not a member of the UN Security Council, so we are not in the room.” However, other countries confirmed China had chosen discretion as the better part of valour. French diplomatic sources asserted, “Kashmir will not be discussed in the security council today. Our position has been very clear: Kashmir issue has to be treated bilaterally. We have highlighted this several times recently, including in New York.”

The thwarting of China’s plans will be a relief for India with officials seeing the move as coinciding with Pakistan’s fresh attempts to raise protests in India over the Citizenship Amendment Act.

As first reported , China had requested informally for a discussion on Kashmir under the “other business” head. This was seen as an effort to embarrass India, on behalf of all-weather ally Pakistan. However, the Chinese proposal faced a significant pushback from other UNSC members, which ended with a quiet withdrawal.

India and China are scheduled to hold what promises to be an important round of bilateral boundary talks this weekend between national security adviser and special representative Ajit Doval and his Chinese counterpart state counsellor Wang Yi. As first reported the boundary talks are scheduled for December 21.

In August, during foreign minister S Jaishankar’s visit to China, the Chinese side had hinted at “early harvest” proposals on the boundary. However, these failed to see the light of day, When Wang Yi was visiting Pakistan and Nepal early September, India indicated that the time was “not ripe” for a boundary discussion. This was just after China attempted to pin down India on J&K at the UNSC in mid-August.
The two boundary special representatives also met on the sidelines of the Mahabalipuram summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping. This weekend’s meeting has been accorded very high importance by the Indian government, where along with boundary talks, Doval and Wang are expected to hold a strategic dialogue on issues of importance.

Source: ANI

Image Courtesy: Wikimedia