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New Delhi, January 18, 2020
After China once again pitched for a discussion on Kashmir at the United Nations Security Council, India on Thursday (January 16, 2020) said that Beijing should draw “proper lessons” and “refrain” from repeating this step in the future.
This was the second time that UNSC discussed Kashmir, having previously held closed door consultations on the subject on the initiative of China after it backed a call from Pakistan.
Just like the previous meeting in August, there was no “outcome” of this meeting either.
“An effort was made by Pakistan through a member of UNSC to misuse the platform of UNSC. The overwhelming majority of UNSC were of the view that UNSC was not the right forum for such issues and this should be discussed bilaterally between India and Pakistan. The informal closed-door meeting concluded without any outcome,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said at a media brief in New Delhi.
‘Reflect on Global Consensus”
Mr Kumar said that India also had a message for China. “This question should be asked from China too. In our view, China should seriously reflect on this global consensus, draw the proper lessons and refrain from taking such actions in the future,” he said.
He said that Pakistan must also get the message that “if at all if there is any matter between India and Pakistan to be discussed, it should be discussed bilaterally.”
“Pakistan has a choice to avoid such global embarrassment by refraining from such acts in the future,” he said.
Pakistan Minister’s statement
Meanwhile, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi provided his version of the closed door meeting.
He claimed that UN officials had briefed UNSC members that the “local situation” remains tense” after India had read down Section 370 of the constitution.
“Several countries expressed serious concern regarding the situation in occupied Kashmir, including the continued curfew and blackout imposed on the Kashmiri people and the potential threat of a conflict,” said Qureshi. However, none of the “several countries” were named.
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