Pakistan was left red-faced Tuesday when its latest efforts seeking UN intervention on Kashmir failed to draw a new response from the world body, which reiterated that India and Pakistan need to resolve their differences through dialogue.
Sartaj Aziz, adviser to Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif on national security and foreign affairs, had written to UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon on the recent border tension with India and sought the UN’s intervention, stepping up its attempts to internationalise the Kashmir issue.
Ban’s deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq, when asked to comment on Ban’s viewpoint on the letter, referred to a statement made last week where the UN chief encouraged India and Pakistan to resolve all differences through dialogue to find a long-term solution for peace and stability in Kashmir.
The BJP hailed the UN’s snub to Pakistan as a diplomatic triumph for the Narendra Modi government. “Yet again the UN has snubbed Pakistan and has rejected its request. This shows that Pakistan has been yet again cornered in the international forum,” BJP spokesman Sambit Patra told reporters. “If Pakistan believes and wishes in peace, then it has to shun terrorism, it has to shun ceasefire violations and infiltration,” he added.
New Delhi, meanwhile, said it was willing to have a “serious dialogue” with Pakistan but questioned Islamabad’s sincerity.
“It seems, from what Pakistan is doing it is not interested in (bilateral) dialogue… the sending of a letter to the UN secretary general by Pakistan is a well-known tactic and it has not worked earlier and it will not work now. The road to a peaceful and cooperative relationship between India and Pakistan runs from Islamabad via Lahore to New Delhi. If you divert that road through New York or elsewhere, it will not serve any purpose... and will be diversionary tactics,” said external affairs ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin.
He reiterated India’s stand that only Shimla Agreement and Lahore Declaration provided the framework to resolve India-Pak issues and there was no role for a third party.
The UN has an observer group in India and Pakistan to monitor ceasefire violations, which have escalated in the past few weeks and claimed nearly 20 lives. India has however always maintained that the observer group has “outlived its relevance” and has “no role to play whatsoever” on the issue.
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